Megami no Kitsune
by Snowmaiden Freya
Summary: When a beloved old face returns to Konoha, will her presence upset the balance of the elemental nations? Can Kamiko survive the danger headed her way? Watch as one girl full of darkness discover true love and bring about a revolutionary change to the world. Rated M for explicit content. Undecided Pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know a lot of you were really looking forward to the continuation of** _ **Elegant Embers**_ **which I am sad to say, it has been discontinued. I was finding too many discrepancies and plot holes. There will be parts from said previous story I will turn over to this one.**

 **So far, the pairing for this story is undecided. However, I will say there won't be any straight pairings for Kamiko. Yep, once again, another femslash fic. So in the comment section, lemme know what lady you want our Heroine to end up with.**

 **Disclaimer: Naruto and relating franchise is copyright to Masashi Kishimoto and I, in no manner or method owns a scrap of it. Just this measley fanfic.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter I**_

Winter was a harsh season for the denizens of the Village Hidden the Leaves. Almost year round, the weather was warm, often balmy and generally pleasant. However, the time between autumn and spring brought a chill to the Land of Fire. Lethargy and a distaste of going outside in this dead season was a common consensus among the population of Konoha. They struggled to enjoy life and do their work when blighted by a blanket of snow.

But none so more than a young orphaned girl by the name of Kamiko Uzumaki-Namikaze. Of course she wasn't aware of her full name; she was only four years old. But despite her youth, she was a devilishly bright child. Given the chance, she would be hailed as a prodigy with intelligence and common sense. A hero to the people around her.

That however was far from how she was really treated. The citizens of Konoha at large, held an unrivaled animosity towards the crimson haired girl. Villagers despised the poor girl so much that every year on her birthday, they would take turns chasing her down and beating her up, hoping one year, the brat would die. They named this activity the ' Fox Hunt'. Sometimes she could not successfully hide or outrun the villagers, resulting in wounds that would normally mean mortal peril.

But why do they hate a young girl less than ten seasons old? That can be answered by the events when Kamiko drew her first breath. It was early in the morning on October 10th when Kushina Uzumaki went into labor. However the birth became complicated due to the seal's vulnerability. With the Yondaime manually keeping the seal strong, it would have held fast, but a mysterious stranger did the unthinkable.

In his black garb and orange mask, this unknown man forced the seal open enough to summon the beast from the mother's stomach. It appeared his only motive was to obliterate the Hidden Leaf using the destructive power of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, an avatar of pure chakra.

This man, a paragon of strength in the village used everything in his arsenal to defeat this invader and his pet tailed beast. He had successfully fended off the enemy shinobi, but the demon fox continued to rampage. Being the most powerful of nine, the Kyuubi could not be sealed into a contained. Only a host; a living sacrifice would be able to jail it. His wife too weak and on the verge of death, there was no way she would survive another sealing.

With no choice left, the late Yondaime sealed the yang half of the Kyuubi's chakra into his daughter and the yin into himself. Using the forbidden technique, it had cost him his life so his daughter may yet live. His dream, was for the village to treat his baby girl as a hero for keeping the terrible monster in her gut. But reality kicked in, making young Kamiko despised for what she holds...

It's here in mid December when Kamiko found herself huddled up in the back alley somewhere in the Red Light District. Her ratty cloak which she had once salvaged from a dumpster last week was too light to keep the biting wind from harming her.

"What are you doing out here, child?" came a low feminine voice that the little girl had barely heard over the wind. The sound of the noise had startled her a little. A shadow had obscured what little sun was shining down on her face. The voice continued and asked, "Where are your parents?"

Kamiko reluctantly peered up. Her gaze was met with a buxom woman in her late thirties, or so the redhead estimated. In a quiet voice, she rasped, "I don't have any parents. And I was kicked out of the orphanage awhile ago. So I live on the streets..."

"You have no other family to speak of?"

"No," answered the redhead immediately, not meeting the woman's gaze. For some reason the question made her uncomfortable. She never had parents, so why was the question like a knife to her gut?

Raising a brow, the woman fired another question, "Tell me dear, do you have a name?"

Biting her lip, the four year old reluctantly answered, "Kamiko...Uzumaki..."

"A beautiful name. Mine is Mitsune Iwanako, but you may call me Mitsune or Madame. All the ladies at Yūgata no Hana call me Madame or by my first name, that is the place I manage. I am the sole owner. How long have you been out here?"

Whimpering cautiously, Kamiko asked, "Y-you're not gonna take me somewhere where people can beat me up, a-are you?" Her query was met with a lofted eyebrow but the expression was devoid of maliciousness. "A-a year," came her hesitant reply. "They kicked me out of the orphanage for b-being a monster..."

"None of that now, dear. You're just a young girl down on her luck. Why don't you come with me Kamiko? We can get you a bath and then a nice hot meal into your tummy," said the strange woman, extending a gloved hand to the shivering child. "The street is no place for young girls. You must be so cold."

Taking the hand, Kamiko smiled hopefully as she was pulled to her feet. The woman and the girl walked a few blocks before they stopped in front of a back door to a tall building. The padlocked door was quickly unlocked and she was ushered toward the entrance. It took a moment or two, but the middle aged woman managed to coax Kamiko in.

Inside, the young redheaded girl couldn't help but smile at the warmth. It had been so long since she had last been inside. Her cheeks burned as her body temperature returned to a healthy level. Only a little longer would she stop shaking from hypothermia.

"Come sweetheart, let's get you cleaned up!"

After the bath and having her hair brushed, Kamiko had practically passed out. The herbal bath had quickly brought the young redhead to a normal human temperature. With the hypothermia abated, the young child only had a few more things to fix. Namely, the starvation and care of her body. Teaching her to read and write could come later.

With the dirt and grime washed away, Mitsune could see the child certainly had the potential to be just as or even more beautiful as her top performing women. The bright scarlet hair she was currently combing tangles out of was unlike anything she had seen before. Most folks in the Fire country were born with brown, black and auburn hair. But this little girl had a sleek mane of hair the color of freshly spilled blood. Or a very ripe tomato.

By the time, the little one was toweled off, she was beginning to doze off. Picking up her newest charge, Mitsune dressed the little redhead in a pair of pjs. Earlier, she had sent one of her ladies out to the local clothing store to pick up a couple changes of clothes so the girl would have something nicer to wear than a couple rags.

While there wasn't any room suitable for residential use other than the Matron and a few of the other girls. Mitsune put young Kamiko in a cot in her own bedroom. The older woman tucked her in and gave a kiss to the child's forehead. Quietly, she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

A sigh escaped her lips as she sat down in her office chair. She sat in deep thought for nearly ten minutes. Growing a little frustrated, the matron with silver tipped locks pulled open a drawer and fetched her kiseru set onto her desk. A match ignited and the tobacco was lit. She sucked in a lungful of smoke. She held it in for nearly a minute and a half before she exhaled slowly. She dumped the smouldering ash of used tobacco into the used pile.

"What are you thinking, madame?" came a soft voice from the slightly ajar door to her office. Mitsune didn't look over her shoulder to see who had come.

Instead, she answered after taking another drag on her pipe, "Many things, Akali. I don't know why I did what I did; I took her off the streets without a second thought. In my gut, I feel like she's worth more than what life's failed to give her thus far. As though she deserves everyone's respect. I can't explain it, nor why I want her safe, warm and close to me at all times."

The dark haired woman that served as a bodyguard to the matron replied with a small smile, "That's your maternal instinct. I'll be here if you need help raising her."

"Thank you."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I know the chapter is short, but I didn't want to make it too fluffy and full of droning exposition. So I hope this story caught your attention.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Thank you for all of the views, favorites and reviews.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter II**_

The following morning, Kamiko awoke to a warm feeling. Groggily rubbing her eyes as she left the land of dreams, the little girl mewled as she yawned. Said youngster looked around, finding herself in an unknown room. Not the hospital nor any shop. It was somewhere nice. And the futon smelled lovely; a little of vanilla and a scent she couldn't quite place. But it comforted her. The lack of garbage around her and the sensation of a clean body was one she found herself more than happy to experience. It had been a long time for her since she had last felt happiness, or remembering someone who wasn't scowling or glaring at her. Tucked in between her arms and the bed was a small fox plushie. It almost brought tears to her eyes that someone had given her a present. She fought back the urge to cry and stuffed her face down. A big goofy grin spread across her bleary face as she held the soft fox toy tightly.

She cherished the warm bed and soft pillow beneath her cheek for a few minutes longer before a nagging feeling in her gut urged her to finally clamber out of bed. Looking around the room blearily, she noticed the warm winter sunlight filtering in through the blinds. Under her feet, the polished bamboo floors were chilly. Kamiko shivered and cuddled her unnamed fox plushie. A small chair sat on the opposite side of the room and she made to approach. There was a note sitting atop a small pile of of neatly folded clothes. Though she was young, she could at least get the gist of what the katakana scribbled onto the paper even though her knowledge of the written language had many gaps.

 _Kamiko,_

 _I probably won't be around to see you wake up, but please don't be alarmed._

 _I'm sure you're still reeling from the fact you're not outside like day old bread. But this is a good thing. You're safe. When you're ready, I'd like you to put the night clothes in the hamper (located in the closet) and get dressed. Go down the left side of the hallway and down the stairs. I'll be sitting at the desk in the foyer._

 _~Mitsune_

Doing as the letter addressed to her asked, changing into the provided clothes and tossing the pjs into the bin as directed. Once decent, Kamiko left and closed the door behind her. She walked down the unfamiliar hallway of soft carpet beneath her feet and wallpaper that depicted pleasant scenery. A few moments later, she was down the single flight of stairs and walking into a larger room. The exit was a sliding door which she had spied from across the room.

While busy scanning the room for threats, the young redhead didn't realize someone was behind her. She had almost jumped a full foot into the air when someone had whispered into her ear, "Good Morning, Miko-chan~"

"You startled me, dattebane!" squeaked the scarlet haired girl, pouting with her lower lip forward. Her petite hands sat on her waist. "You said you'd be at the front desk!"

Mitsune practically swooned in her mind at the adorable verbal tic that reminded her of another red haired woman she had often seen running energetically around the village some odd years ago. Perhaps Kamiko was that woman's daughter. At any rate, she would be raising the fiery child from now on.

Touseling the little girl's head once she left her minute reverie, the matron said, "Since you'll be living here from now on, I hope we can all get along."

Eyes wide, Kamiko asked in a trembling voice, "I-I am?" Swallowing thickly, she pressed, "You mean to say, this is my h-home now? I don't have to sleep outside? B-because I was told demons don't get to sleep indoors. "

"Of course this is your home. You'll sleep in a futon just like everyone else here." She frowned at the child's talk about being a demon. She was aware of the rumors there was a child who was a jinchuuriki; someone who kept the nine tailed fox away from the people of Konoha. But she gave those rumors no merit. A child was a child and to turn rage of a monster to an innocent little girl was an unacceptable action. Enough that the mere thought made her blood boil!

Kamiko sniffed, brushing unshed tears from her cheeks as she hugged the matron by the waist. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Mitsu-sama," she whispered, just loud enough for the mature woman to hear.

"Mitsune or Mitsune-san is fine, dear. No need for such formality," chuckled the matron. "As you are now a permanent resident here, I would like you to meet the ladies who work here," continued Mitsune. Her eyes darted to the hallway before snapping her fingers. The auditory sound seemed to reverberate throughout the halls. Immediately, several women strode into the corridor and lined up. "In order of right to left, we have Akali; she is our security woman. While she is a kunoichi, she is on active duty and may not always be here. I'm expecting you to behave for her." Moving onto the next female, this one wearing a blazing red kimono with black and pink trim. She had long black hair with bleached highlights. "Himawari often covers the front desk when I have my days off." She spoke again, moving her gaze to get another female. This one was a tall woman with alabaster skin. Her hair was the shade between gold and platinum. "Nagisa here is one of our hostesses, and she enjoys telling stories and calligraphy." The next female presented was a young lady barely out of her teens: "Atsuki here sings for our customers." Another woman she was introduced to was far different than the others. Her skin was the color of mocha and hair the hue of fool's gold. "Junko here hails from the Land of Lightning." The last woman she was to meet was a middle aged woman named Nozomi. Finally turning back to Kamiko, Mitsune said, "There are a few others whom I employ, but they're part timers. With that said, I have only one more thing to say. Welcome to our family of misfits, little one."

Suddenly, the red haired girl was lifted off of her feet. As she began to flail, a voice said as her head was pushed between a pair of soft pillows, "Oh aren't you just positively exquisite!"

It was then Kamiko realized that those 'pillows' were really a pair of breasts barely covered by the woman's dress. Embarrassment spread across her face in the form of a rosy blush. Looking up a little, the little redhead saw the woman who had picked her up was really pretty. The unknown woman had flawless skin like a frosted peach, sky blue eyes and long violet locks.

"Ah, good timing, Mizore-chan. We were all introducing ourselves to Miko-chan. She came in last night. Since she has no parents and the orphanage didn't want her, we're her new family," said Mitsune from behind her fan. "Treat her like you would a delicate flower."

"Come Miko-chan, let's get you something to eat," cooed Mizore. Blushing a little more as the newcomer gently squeezed her again, Kamiko gave a tentative smile. She wasn't quite sure she could trust these women yet, but she knew for a fact they were already a lot better than the men she had been in contact before. Perhaps, she would having a loving home. Kamiko knew it wasn't good to put too much stock into hoping for something, but the prospects were far too good to take it with a grain of salt.

* * *

Over the next few days, the matron and the women of Yūgata no Hana had pooled their earnings together to make sure Kamiko had her own bedroom and things a little girl would need and or want. In was only a matter of days before her new room was set up right next to the matron's own bedroom.

Though she was rather fluent in speaking the native tongue, the redhead wasn't the greatest with her written work, often spelling incorrectly and other grammatical issues. So they had spent a little under a month getting her to comprehend material even a ten year old might have trouble with. Despite having been starved in more ways than one, it turned out Kamiko was very intelligent. And once introduced to the library, she had taken to it like a fish to water. Perhaps not a prodigy, but very smart all the same.

Since the redhead was always so full of energy, Junko volunteered to take the wired little girl to get some exercise in the form of jogging, playing tag and other activities. When they got back, they would meditate for half an hour. Eventually, it turned into an every other day routine.

The park was one of their destinations on these outings. While she was not particularly interested in playing with other children, Kamiko would sometimes join two young boys when they watched clouds. It was an effortless activity with minimal discussion. She liked it more than the overly chatty girls who prefered to just talk than play.

Unfortunately hanging out with the boys got a few other children jealous. Upon making fun of her bright red hair, Kamiko ended up beating up the boys and girls who teased her. By the time she went home, she always wore a smug smile on her face. Even if she got scolded.

When she had turned six, Mitsune had asked if Kamiko might like to learn responsibility and other skills, said young girl was more than happy to start doing odd jobs around the pleasure house. She then explained what they did. The Yūgata no Hana was a brothel/hostess club which caters to many desires and needs from simple foods and beverages with musical entertainment, to more explicit services. A system was implemented to separate the different roles within the brothel.

Daisies, Lilies, Roses and Orchids. The first was for the children and those under thirteen, the daisy. It was their job to act as musicians for the guests; those who weren't virtuosos were sent to work as bussers who would clear tables once a guest had left. It was also their job to make sure that all the hanging flowers and potted plants and trees were watered and weeded. Lilies were the hostesses, dancers and singers. None too surprisingly, Roses were the prostitutes. Finally, the Orchid was the matron, the mama, the queen.

Despite being so young, Kamiko learned early in her life on how children were made. While most parents would wait until their child was ten or eleven, living in a brothel sped this lesson rather quickly. Much to the ladies amusement, the little redhead freaked out. She made a fuss about how she never wanted to ever ever have children and that boys were icky. The Roses just giggled at her reaction.

After changing out of her exercise clothes Kamiko went to the main room to meet with the Orchid. Mitsune was going to go over everything Kamiko would need to learn, from how she would have to dress to what songs the blonde would learn to play. Kamiko was also going to be responsible for helping her fellow Daisies get ready with their clothes, make up, and hair. Instrument maintenance was solely on the person who played it, that meant that Kamiko would only have to keep her shamisen working and no one but Kamiko could take of it. If the redhead's instrument was broken, she wouldn't be working, and would not be earning any money. Kamiko didn't need money, but she did not want to be a freeloader. And in the future, what money she made now would benefit her later.

Mitsune then told her 'Hana's newest Daisy that sometimes, while very rare, some Daisies had to play for the Roses and their customers. The Daisy assigned to playing for a Rose would be behind a screen to give privacy to the customers. She then told the young girl that as the youngest Daisy, she would not have to do it for another few years. In fact Kamiko would most likely not be performing for any customers until she could play her shamisen to the satisfaction of Orchid Mitsune.

* * *

All of Kamiko's lessons had been going great over the past few months. She was still trying to get used to her shamisen, it was a bit difficult for her to remember all the songs; she still had to memorize five more of her fifteen songs. When she was adequately trained with her first instrument, she would move onto the koto. Once she first laid eyes on the string instrument, Kamiko fell in love. It took her a few days, but she managed to get Himawari to give her an introduction on how to care and play the koto.

Occasionally, there would be customers who would become rough with the working ladies. Impossible demands. But today, Akali was not there; she was away on a mission. Said young girl happily worked in the main room of the brothel, often humming as she cleared tables, brought appetizers for peckish clients. It was her third table she was cleaning when a scream alerted the young girl that someone was being overly rough with one of the hostesses.

Looking over to where the cry had originated from, the young girl saw a burly man over six feet tall. He was manhandling one of the part timers. When she said that she was not one of the Roses, he didn't like that. His trash can sized hands closed around the woman's neck and lifted her into the air. It was in vain that the victim clawed helplessly at the limb holding her up.

Trying to think fast, Kamiko looked around, biting her lip nervously. She wracked her brain, trying to think of a way to make the big ugly man stop choking. It didn't help that several civilians had fled. And those who didn't, were trying to hide. Where were the ninja when you needed them? Frustration grew more as the young redhead sought for something, anything that would help her save one of the women who helped give her a home.

There!

A steak knife sitting on the plate from the vacant table to her left. Darting between a patron and a hostess, the young girl snatched the cutting utensil. Whirling back to where the drunken customer was assaulting Nagisa. Target in sight and no obstacles in the way, Kamiko launched herself from the chair to the table and into the air. Upon colliding with the thug, that steak knife pierced the man's shoulder. With gravity taking its toll, she sank to the floor, the sharp knife still stuck in his arm.

When it finally registered, the man clutched at the knife and pulled it out. It clattered to the floor, forgotten. Too drunk to feel the pain or loss of blood, he dropped the whore he had been harassing and turned to Kamiko. With a snarl, he growled, "You've done it now, brat. I don't usually hurt kids, but since you're the demon, I'll make an exception and end your miserable existence. For the greater good of the village and a good riddance."

Trying to scrabble to her feet to get away from the man, Kamiko grabbed at a table and hauled herself to her feet. But she wasn't fast enough to get away. Her collar was lifted from the back and into the air. As the sound of a sword being drawn reached her ears, the redhead knew she was in serious danger. Flailing to get loose, the little girl found the criminal's belted dagger. She prised it free of its sheath and swung the slightly heavy (for a kid) blade wildly.

Ordinarily, she wouldn't have been much of a threat without the necessary strength. But unknowingly, the small redhead had tapped into her tenant's reserves. Demonic crimson chakra coated the small blade, superheating it. The first few hits left a couple nicks and scratches on his face. Kamiko continued to panic, her slashes turning into wild stabs.

Her crying made it hard to see, but Kamiko didn't care. She just wanted her family to be okay and for the bad man to go away. With some unluckiness, the thrashing man tripped on a misplaced sponge. He began to topple.

As he landed, there was a sickening squelch as the chakra coated dagger impaled the thug in his eye socket. All the way to the hilt. She could feel something warm dripping down on her face from above.

Blood.

She tapped his non bleeding shoulder, but there was no response. He wasn't moving. A foul scent entered her sharp nose, helping her realize what happened. Soon, the horror of what she had done truly dawned on her. She blacked out.

* * *

When she awoke, Kamiko discovered she wasn't in the brothel anymore. Her surroundings looked like a sewer. She had never been here before, but it somewhere that was somehow familiar but new to her. Like a well kept sewer system with clean water and almost spotless walls. As she began walking, Kamiko discovered that it was more like a metal catacomb rather than a simple sewer system. What seemed like forever, Kamiko turned around a few corners and found herself in a spanning cistern.

The other side of the cavernous chamber was locked off with a massive grate. Each bar looked to be three times as wide and fifteen times as tall as the tallest person in the village. A noise in that direction caused the little girl to jump.

" **Ahh, it's about time you visited me here, brat. I was starting to think you were too good to bother meeting me in person,"** came a snide, feminine voice from the massive gates. All that was keeping the creature inside wasn't a lock, chains, but nine pieces of paper. Each had eerily similar ink markings. " **Oh my, the little brat experienced a little trauma just from killing one measly human."** The voice paused. " **And you're supposed to be my jailer. How pathetic."**

Stepping a bit closer to the bars, she saw the gargantuan creature resting in the darkness. At first glance, it had a rustic red shade of fur with hints of mandarin orange. It was a fox, not that she had ever seen one before. Not a real one at any rate. Her plushie probably wasn't anatomically accurate. Instead of one, it had nine flowing and fluffy tails. Kamiko continued to stare, eyebrows clashing in the middle of her forehead. Finally, she walked between the metal bars fearlessly. She stopped when she was several feet away. "...are you my kaa-san?" she whispered, a mixed look of awe, fear and curiosity on her features.

In all her years of being the terror of many humans nightmares or the visage of all that is unholy, Kyushira found herself flabbergasted by the left field inquiry the young girl had asked. Several tense minutes passed before the giant fox finally retorted, " **No I am not. I am clearly not human. Why would you even think that?"**

If she was expecting the young girl to say something predictable, what came from Kamiko's mouth was not. "Because you smell like me. You feel warm and safe. So... are you my kaa-san?"

With a sigh, Kyushira answered, " **Hardly. I am a demon; the queen of all demons and head honcho of the foxes of Kodai no Mori. After all, I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, strongest and wisest of the tailed beasts. Humans all over the world feared me so much they imprisoned me into your grandmother, your mother and now you."** She expected the imminent tears, complaining and whimpering about the unfairness of life. Disgust, anger, terror; that was the reaction she expected from the tiny mortal.

"Kaa-san is a very pretty 'tsune," came a soft voice by her feet.

The kitsune blinked in surprise, not noticing how a little girl had snuck up on her. Little Kamiko had boldly snuggled up to her chest like one would a giant teddy bear. Admittedly, it was hard to intimidate someone as adorable as Kamiko. The small redhead was being incredibly mellow despite that the girl had murdered someone minutes ago. The sheer kindness, slight blend of naivety and curiosity was radiant. The Nine Tails could not bring herself to hate this bundle of joy before ber.

" **Just for clarification, I am not your real mother. You had a human mother and father. If you're adamant about me becoming your kaa-san, I guess I have no choice but to allow it. It should be illegal to be that cute..."**

With a small yawn, the short redheaded child asked, "Do you have a name, Kyuubi-san?"

If giant foxes could smirk or smile, the demon fox most certainly would. " **While most of my underlings and those who fear my power call me the Kyuubi, my closest servants call me by the name given to me by the Sage of Six Paths: Kyushira. You my little kit, may call me Mistress, Kaa-sama or Your Highness."**

"Yes, Kaa-sama," chirped the young redhead. "Is there anything would you ask of me?"

" **Fufuu... Yes, there is something I would like you to pursue. You're a smart girl and I know this is something I believe you can succeed in. I want you to become a kunoichi,"** came the demon fox's order. " **You must be able to defend yourself from their attacks. The villagers will not stand idly by as you grow up, believing you to be me but in flesh and blood.** "

Tilting her head, Kamiko said slowly, "So you are the reason everyone hates me? Because of you that I have no parents?"

Turning away, Kyushira did not deny the words spoken to her. " **Unfortunately, that is true. I won't sugarcoat it; I do not feel sorry for those who died the day you were born. Ningen are rapacious and cruel beings. Both your grandmother and mother kept me under lock and key where I could not move. I simply existed, my chakra siphoned. I hated it, despised them for keeping me imprisoned."**

"Didn't they ever try to talk to you?"

 **Kyushira scoffed. "No. They believed me to simply be a monster, without emotion that slaughtered without rhyme or reason. Back then, the last few centuries I was filled with hate. Fury was my reigning emotion since I was first captured by the Shodaime Hokage. Turned into a weapon by avaricious and wrathful monsters disguised as human. Destroyed my den. They ripped away my FREEDOM! Put me in shackles and SILENCED ME!"** The kitsune paused, realizing her fury and anger had made her jailer cower in fear. " **I seemed to have gone off topic. Where were we, little one?"**

"My birth," supplied Kamiko, listening with rapt attention.

" **Ah yes,"** murmured the Kyuubi as she flicked an ear. " **The day you were brought into this world, was the same day your father and many other foolish ninja died."** Kamiko opened her mouth to ask something, but the demonic vixen gave her a mild glare. " **As I was saying kit, your father, was none other than Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage. The only time when the seal is weakest is during childbirth. From what I know of that day, a strange man with those damned and accursed eyes ripped me from your mother and summoned me into the village. I don't remember much, but he did something to me that caused me to go berserk.**

" **The Fourth summoned his filthy toads and waged war against me. But I am a construct of pure chakra. I am cannot be killed. At best I would disperse and reform in a matter of years. But that fool. Using a forbidden technique, Minato sealed half of me into you and the other into himself. You were a sacrifice to contain me. Of course he died and was devoured by the Shinigami."** She chuckled with minor amusement. " **My yin half was yours and the yang went to him. But it was a very idiotic plan. A mere five years and my yang chakra has almost entirely regenerated. Soon I will be whole again and one day I may be free."**

After her tenant had finished her speech, Kamiko gave a soft but hollow laugh. "How ironic. They call my daddy a hero for stopping the 'big bad fox' yet demonize me for keeping you away from them. They call me monster, demon and other hurtful words. I've become a pariah because of my idiotic dad." She paused to catch her breath. "You know what? I'll fucking show them. I'll show them that I can really be a demon!"

" **Ah ah ah, language little one,"** chided the Kyuubi as she lightly nudged the jinchuuriki's head with her snout. The small redheaded human gave a little pout, but apologized. " **It's not proper for young girls to be using such language. You've been through a lot. Sleep my kit. Your future is just beginning..."**

-Megami No Kitsune-

Though the conversation ended, Kamiko was still in a deep slumber. Reality had resumed. The Orchid had bathed her charge so the young girl was no longer covered in blood. Then, Mitsune had tucked the child into bed.

"Sweet dreams, and please come back to us soon," she murmured as she pulled the blanket up to the girl's chin and nestled the beloved fox plushie into her arms. She leaned close to the girl's side and laid a hand on her cheek. When she did, she heard a quiet, yet pleasant sound that vaguely reminded her of the sound a cat would make when it's happy.

 _'Is...is she purring?!'_ Deciding to test a theory, Mitsune stroked the black whisker marks on the girl's cheek ever so daintily. The results had been the same: a soft, feminine purr emanated from deep in the little girl's throat. Even the girl's frowning face upturned into a small smile. _'Oh dear Kami, this is too cute!'_

* * *

The following few days, Kamiko fell into a bit of a funk. She was constantly distracted and occasionally plagued by untoward nightmares. What young child wouldn't be scarred by her first kill before ten summers?

Mitsune intended to give the young girl council and let the child know that the man's death wasn't her fault; that it had been the dead thug's fault for assaulting one of her girls. By all means, it was purely self defence. But every time she approached Kamiko, the girl would either say she was fine or changed the topic.

Her duties were performed with a melancholic malaise, obvious to the other women who worked in the brothel. Mizore had attempted to cheer up the young musician with no luck. It seemed that when people attempted to talk to her about her first kill, she could not be found. This continued for a couple days until one afternoon.

Having just finished tuning her shamisen, Kamiko had sent another of the Daisies on stage to play. When she was scanning the crowd of patrons, she had spotted the rare shinobi among their ranks. Rarer was a member of the Anbu. She knew this one was the person to fulfill Kyushira-sama's request. Once she was finished, she would approach him.

Twenty minutes later, she was relieved to see the man was still there. She put away her instrument and slipped onto the floor, snaking around and between patrons.

"Mr Ninja, will you teach me how to be a kunoichi?" came the redhead's inquiry as she suddenly popped up by his side.

Itachi found himself staring at the little scarlet haired girl. He was an anbu captain. He had no time to waste on children trying to be grown ups. But there was something familiar about the girl. Was it the demeanor or was it the blood red hair falling down to the girl's waist. It nagged him about what he should do.

Slowly, he said, "I'll, put the idea under consideration. But right now, it's not a no, but it's neither a yes. I'll come back when I have an answer." He had left a hopeful musician once he had left.

The following day, he had returned and waited until she had completed her current song before approaching Kamiko. He finally agreed and that he would teach her when he had time to. Safe to say, the young redhead was ecstatic.

* * *

After every few days, the masked would return and teach her something new. For the most part, history and theoretical tactics she could study on her own. Akali and a few of the girls who had clearance to borrow shinobi texts checked them out for Kamiko at her insistence.

The first few weeks, her teacher had taught her how to access her chakra. This was done within an hour because of the fox in her gut. From then and there out, he had her practice on controlling the massive amounts of chakra she wielded. Classically, he had Kamiko stick leaves to her body only using chakra. When she had mastered that a week later, he told her to begin increasing the number of leaves. The first month after they had begun, the jinchuuriki could already walk on water using her chakra.

The following lessons were the basic jutsu taught in the academy. The henge and kawarimi were easy enough for her to learn with a little practice. Unfortunately her skill at making clones was absolutely abysmal. No matter how hard she tried, she could not make a single healthy clone.

Itachi had returned at the next lesson with a solution. Since Kamiko had too much chakra and could not draw that little, the Uchiha decided that she was to learn the Shadow Clone. An A-ranked kinjutsu due to the high cost. But since she had access to a bijuu and her own naturally high reserves, it was perfect for her. Kamiko had wanted to use them for everything, but she had gotten scolded and told to only use them when she really needed them.

Despite her age, Kamiko easily picked up ninjutsu. Almost prodigal in nature. She was taught a few techniques specifically used as keystones in the ANBU Black Ops. Again, Itachi had firmly told her that these were only to be used if she was in danger.

Whether or not it was Kyushira's influence or not, the young redhead most certainly enjoyed learning about Genjutsu. Sometimes she would layer a few minor illusions on some of the patrons just as a good prank. Another application Kamiko found useful in genjutsu was that messing with people's senses made sneaking easier.

At the end of March, the Uchiha had said he would be away on a mission for a few weeks. This meant it would be self study and continuing to master the basics. She had grumbled but obeyed.

* * *

As a reward for practicing diligently and behaving in her lessons, Mizore took the young girl to the park. Kamiko was rather excited to interact with others her own age.

When she had tried to join a small group of ten or so girls, she had found herself chased away by the girl's snitty parents. Disappointed, she had attempted to join the boys but the same thing had happened. She knew why the adults didn't want her near their kids. But it still stung deeply knowing that she couldn't seem to make a friend.

Finding a lone spot atop the hill, Kamiko had sat down. She hadn't realized that there were two boys who had already been there. The crunching of chips from the larger boy had first told her senses she wasn't alone. He had short brown hair and dimples on his cheeks. Then a few feet on her other side was a lanky boy lying in the grass. This one had jet black hair, most of it tied into a spiky ponytail. It kind of reminded her of a pineapple.

She had asked if she was intruding on something and the two hadn't minded her company. She had introduced herself and in turn, they had told her their names. The bigger male was Choji Akimichi while the other was Shikamaru Nara. Both came from prominent ninja clans but not as well known as the Hyuuga or Uchiha. They each had amusing quirks. One loved to eat and always had a snack with him while the other was lazy and often said 'troublesome' like it was a catchphrase.

She had been shy at first, but soon had opened up. They talked a little about the weather and about their families. It turned out that the two would be entering the ninja academy in a year or two, but we're already being taught clan jutsu. Not wanting to brag, the redhead merely said that she had a private tutor and would not be joining their class.

When she had mentioned she like to read, Shikamaru had went home and brought a shogi board and challenged her to a match. Kamiko didn't know how to play, so he had taught her.

When the sun had set, the three had separated. The two boys headed back to their clan compounds while Kamiko went back to her home in the Red Light District.

* * *

It was a few months later before Kamiko saw Itachi again. But this time, it was in the middle of the night.

One of her duties was to take out the garbage from each of the empty rooms. Just after being scolded for forgetting, Kamiko had gone and done her chore. Before long, she was taking out the last two bags to the dumpster a block away.

As the young redhead turned to go back in, the sound of multiple flapping wings made her pause. Standing before her was her hero, the man who had taught her almost everything she knew about being a ninja. But instead of his casual clothes, he was dressed in his ANBU armor, soaked in blood at that. Mangekyo Sharingan blazing yet his face held no emotion.

"Nii-san?" she whispered. "What's going on?"

The stoic Uchiha would normally never have let her see him covered in gore. Weasel was the meticulous type, favoring order over chaos. After a mission, he always cleaned up before meeting her. He spoke one word as a bloody hand caressed her cheek: Goodbye. Then he vanished.

Kamiko fell to her knees, tears brimming in her bright blue eyes. What was going on? Her young mind was having trouble grasping the situation."I-Itachi?"

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed the longer chapter and I'm glad I was able to release this chapter before Christmas. So we're getting along in our story now and it's time to ask the important question: who will Kamiko end up with? Well, here are my suggestions of who I think might be fun to write her with:**

 **Anko 6**

 **Kushina (on the prospect she's really alive) 2**

 **Shikamaru 0**

 **Yugito Nii 4**

 **Mei Terumi 5**

 **Fuu 4**

 **Mabui 2**

 **Haku (either female or MtF transgender) 3**

 **Shino 0**

 **Ino 3**

 **Ameyuri Ringo: 1**

 **OC:Satsuki (Sasuke's twin sister long thought dead) 1**

 **Tayuya 1**

 **Kin 1**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hello and welcome to yet another chapter of Megami no Kitsune. Surprise, another chapter before the New Year! Thank you all for the kind words and feedback. I hope this chapter will continue to keep you interested. The poll for the pairing will close by the time I post the next chapter. So lemme know who you want Kamiko to be with!**_

* * *

Chapter III

Several years had passed since Kamiko had met the creature known as the Kyuubi no Yoko, more fondly known to the young redhead as Kyushira. Now she was thirteen. And a year shy of a decade, many things had changed. Both physically and those of the psyche.

From a small little girl barely as tall as a rubbish bin, Kamiko had sprouted into a beautiful and tall young lady. Standing at five foot nine, the jinchuuriki was taller than most women in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Her once azure eyes had darkened to a stormy blue-grey. When not wearing her geisha adornments, Kamiko wore her hair in a messy spiky side ponytail while her bangs were pinned back with unremarkable hair clips. But when her hair is let down, those scarlet tresses cascade down to the small of her back. Pale, flawless skin spanned her body, devoid of so much as a scar. Three light purple markings rather remnant of a cat or fox's whiskers adorn each side of her face. Despite being the genesis of her teenage years, Kamiko was already on the busty side. She could easily fill a B-cup bra or even a low C.

Despite her jaw dropping good looks, Kamiko's mental state was still rather fragile. Whether it was growing up with a fractured sense of morality, sharing headspace with the nine tailed fox, or the loss of an older brother figure or both, the young kunoichi remained unstable. This resulted in affirming minor to severe sadism.

' _ **Kit..."**_

'Yes, Kyu-sama?' chirped the toned, lean teen as she looked at her nails with severe nonchalance.

 ** _'You've spent long enough hiding in the house of pleasure, and especially this cave. Miko-hime, it's time for you to return to the ninja. You cannot bring glory to me by being cooped up with whores and mindless animals as friends. When you aren't at the pleasure house, you're in the Forest of Death. You need more human interaction. It's bad enough you gained my sadistic streak,'_** chastised the behemoth of a fox. Usually, she didn't mind her kit's oddities, but the fluffy demon probably wanted to see beyond the village walls again. Not that she wasn't content with the cave and the trees. A small part of her did want to see the girls again.

Snuggling into the massive python plushy that she was currently using as a pillow, Kamiko replied, "Ugh, fine. You've been obnoxiously insistent that I ought to reintegrate with the humans. Fine. If you really want me to become a Leaf kunoichi, I will. But you'll owe me!"

 _ **"Fine. This makes two favors I owe you."**_

With a yawn, Kamiko told her, "I'll do it tomorrow. Hebimaru is too comfy."

The vixen's irritated voice thundered in her cranium, _**"Don't test me! I said now! And don't forget to check in with that hokage of yours. It's imperative you become a kunoichi."**_

"Yeesh, fine. Don't get your panties in a twist."

Said comment blew a fuse in the demon fox's temper, spewing an impressive bout of obscenities that'd make even the saltiest sailor blush at the profanity displayed by Kamiko's passenger. Best of all, it didn't phase the thirteen year old in the slightest.

Saying her goodbyes to the animals she shared her cave dwelling with, Kamiko began packing what gear she had brought with her to the forest. She gave earrubs to the pair of wolves and a two finger stroke to a grouchy badger's back. She told them to behave while she was gone and left the cave.

* * *

Sorrowful wails exited the heavens in the form of suiciding rain droplets. It was unusually cold and wet for early September. Normally, autumn was a season of dryness and brisk mornings. Warm afternoon and cooling evening with a view of the changing leaves. But today, the skies were crying and spewing forth lightning. Crashing booms echoed each flash of plasmic fire from the skies. Winds thrashed around with no rhyme or reason, whisking away that not connected to the ground. A terrible omen for certain. A sign that darkness and destruction would come to Konohagakure no Sato in the very near future...

Most families would be locked indoors away from the storm and waiting until morning when the rain ceased and the sun came forth. But one girl was eerily calm as she walked through the wet streets. She held a wagasa to keep the water away.

Not much had changed since the last time she had been in the public spaces of Konohagakure; about two and a half months. While she wasn't certain the villagers had forgotten she, the jinchuuriki existed, Kamiko preferred to play it safe. This meant she had used a transformation just in order to hide in plain sight. Instead of a budding thirteen year old redhead, a thirty two year old woman with mousy brown hair walked through the marketplace. Pretending to be a friendly traveler, she made brief conversations with some vendors set up along the sides of the road.

Soon enough, the bright red of the Hokage tower was in view. At the doors, she politely bowed to the shinobi standing guard. She flashed a smile and entered. It was amusing at how well she could act like an entirely different person perfectly and not one person would be all the wiser. It had been a cinch slipping past the weary secretary who was staring off into the distance with a dreamy look upon her face.

The Hokage was about to leave for the day and along the way, pay his respects to those whom had sacrificed their lives to protect their village. That was until the door to his office creaked open. In walked a woman he did not recognize. Possibly a foreigner or just one of those forgettable faces. "How may I help you, young lady?"

Bending over the Hokage's desk, causing her ample bosom to strain against the v-cut blouse which in turn, accentuated her womanly curves. "Oh, there is most certainly something you can help me with, you handsome gentleman~"

Suddenly, smoke exploded around the young woman. To prove her point, the henged thirteen year old girl transformed herself into a very buxom blonde woman with curves in all the right places, yet the face held a naive innocence. Quintessentially, the perfect object of any straight man's desire. Tendrils of smoke coiled around the blonde's nipples and crotch. Without warning, she multiplied by three. The clones began to feel each other's bodies with sensuous and passionate touches. One pair began to make out with each other. A few minutes later, two of the clones switched places using the substitution jutsu. They continued to do debaucherous things to each other for a few more minutes. With a wink, each copy of Kamiko blew the Hokage a kiss before dispelling.

"Mother of Kami," Sarutobi intoned, attempting to stifle the blood flowing from his nose. His widened eyes had been unable to look away from the scene.

"HAHAHA!" snickered the mischief-maker, canceling the transformation technique and returning to her base form. She was clutching her gut as she laughed heartily. "Gotcha good old man! You totally fell for my Oiroke no Jutsu!"

A few minutes passed before the elderly man across from me spoke once more, wiping away a nosebleed for some reason. "That's uh ... an impressive technique. It...is very effective. I'd like you to use it sparingly. Clearly, you've easily passed the genin graduation exam. I still want you to get with an instructor for some history lessons."

Immediately, Kamiko said, "That will be unnecessary. I've studied most of the course material since I was six. I had an excellent teacher who not only made sure I knew history and theory, but also taught me jutsu. You'd be better off just assigning me to a jounin."

The Sarutobi patriarch frowned, wondering something. "You speak of someone who instructed you, meaning they were a jounin. But I had no reports of anyone mentioning that you were not only still alive, but teaching you to be a ninja. Would you tell me who imparted their knowledge to you?"

"No, they wished to remain anonymous and I will not betray their trust. You old man, will have to accept that." She curled a crimson strand of hair behind her ear.

"I see." After a few minutes passed, Hiruzen called out, "Neko."

A woman wearing a porcelain mask with feline features appeared into the open. Kamiko almost kicked herself in the ass for forgetting there was always always at least four ANBU guarding the Village Leader. No self respecting elite force would be caught dead leaving their beloved dictator unattended. "Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"Do you remember little Kamiko here? The daughter of those two," the Hokage said cryptically. But Kamiko knew what he had meant.

"Fuck you old man!" came the long haired teen's vicious snarl. "I'm not little, I'm just of an average female height. If you ever call me little again, I swear I'll cut your fucking nuts off!"

With a noticeable cringe, the elderly man responded, "Duly noted."

Yugao was a little astonished to see the little girl she'd once been watching over on the streets. Oh Kamiko had been very much aware of the 'protection' detail the Hokage had assigned to keep an eye on her. That was until she'd fallen off the radar completely. After that, it had been impossible to keep tabs on her.

 _'How on Earth did she become such a foul mouthed girl? She was a sweetheart when she was three.'_ The swordswoman coughed as she cleared her throat, "I do. It seems like she's grown a lot since the last time I saw her. Like a weed even. What do you need me to do?"

"Simple. I want you to become her sister-"

At those words, Kamiko grew eerily quiet. All her life, she'd believed nobody wanted her. Yes she had grown up safe at the Yugata no Hana, but it wasn't a family. Prostitutes were not substitutes for a mother or a sister. After all, who'd want an orphaned demon? Well no one except Itachi but he was gone. He murdered his entire clan. But of course, the redhead knew it wasn't the whole truth. Adults were always keeping secrets.

"I don't think so," she said coldly, her eyes having turned golden and slitted like a predator. All mirth and friendliness she had been displaying before vanished in an instant.

"What do you mean?"

Turning the brunt of her anger to the hokage, the young kunoichi asked, "Where were you when I was a defenseless little girl out on the streets? You damn well could have prevented much harm, but you couldn't be damned to care about a parentless child. You turned a blind eye when I needed you, somebody, anyone! Where were you and your men while I was hunted every year on my birthday? There are cruel men who would have taken advantage of a three-four year old girl." She harshly emphasised on the last word she had spoken. Her pause lasted a brief moment to let what she said to sink in. "A kind soul took me in. While I may have grown up in not the nicest of places, I was safe at least. Even though I've been working for my stay, it's been worth living with the people I learned to love. That was all it took for me to be happy. I flourished and bloomed like a flower in the dawn."

Head falling into his his hands, the aged man said, "By the gods, I've failed you. I've failed you and your parents. They would be furious with me! How could I have thought the orphanage would keep you safe and happy. I was a fool."

It took several minutes for the wizened man to regain his composure. "How have you been? Have you made any friends?"

"Enough small talk, old man. I only came here to enroll as a genin in Konoha's military," she said firmly. "If I am to protect myself, I must become a kunoichi. Because all you should care about is that your weapon is alive and fit for duty."

Hiruzen frowned. How did Kamiko know already? He had made her status as a jinchuuriki an S-Rank secret. He steepled his fingers and asked, "Do you have somewhere to live? And I'm talking about a permanent residence and not a cave or sleeping in hostels nor couch hopping."

"I have somewhere to stay. But I'm not telling you where. You have no kami-damned business in knowing where I've been staying," snarled Kamiko as she slammed her fists on the Hokage's desk, causing a few of the papers to scatter throughout the room. The polished wood had a few spiderwebbed cracks from the sudden impact.

"That won't do. All shinobi addresses must be categorized and archived. If you cannot tell me where you live, then I cannot in good conscious of the policies allow you to become a ninja in my village," countered the Professor, channeling his leader voice.

Kamiko grit her teeth. There was no way she would tell the old man that she was raised in a brothel and had been living there for most of her life. "Then what do you want from me, Hokage-sama?"

Venomous yet innocuous words. The tone betrayed her disappointment and addressed the man scathingly. Sarutobi did not miss this. "What I want, is for you to follow orders, soldier. When I ask for your residence, I expect you to answer promptly and truthfully. I was attempting to give you a little leeway by kindly offering you an apartment with a low monthly cost."

"I DIDN'T FUCKING ASK FOR YOUR 'GENEROSITY!" screamed the redhead as she clenched her fists. Nails digging into her palms and drew a few beads of blood. "What you're trying to do now won't make up for the past ten years. Not by a long shot. It's because of your blindness I never had a childhood! What does it even matter whether I have a permanent place of residence? It shouldn't matter one goddamn bit so long as I do my job right. So you can shove your petty offer up your ass and around the corner."

Leaping to his feet, the Hokage growled, "You ungrateful brat! Most dictators wouldn't look twice at a homeless orphan. If you don't do as you're told, you can say goodbye to your career as a kunoichi because I don't hire vagrants no matter how good they think they are. Take my deal or get lost."

"Oh yeah you wrinkly old fart? I might be attached to living in Konoha, but I wouldn't be opposed to packing up and leaving," hissed Kamiko as she narrowed her eyes. "How would you feel if I decided defect to Mist or say... Iwa?" She snickered at seeing Hiruzen's temples turn purple in anger. "Oh wait, you can't legally declare me as a missing nin because I'm technically not a ninja. So good luck convincing me to go along with any of your dumb plans."

Yugao had remained reticent as she watched the exchange between the clearly upset redhead and the village leader. It was time she interfered before the two aggravated each other to the point of coming to blows. She removed her standard issue mask so her face was clearly identifiable. In a surly voice to test the waters, she suggested before the Hokage did something he'd regret, "My name is Yugao Uzuki, codename Neko/Cat. If you allowed yourself to legally become my sister, we can split the bills and you'll have someone to watch your back. You won't need to do everything on your own anymore."

"Fine," hissed Kamiko as she crossed her arms. "I'll go along with this farce for now. But outside of missions and official business, I want nothing to do with the old man."

She leaned in to whisper details of the location of their apartment and how to get inside. "I'll be off my shift around eight and then I'll pick up some food on my way home. Your room will be the one without any personal belongings. I'll see you later, Kamiko-san." She stood back up and replaced her Neko mask..

"You're walking on thin ice, Uzumaki," thundered an irate Hokage. "Next time we meet, I expect you to be civil even if you don't care for me. My orders are law and I expect them to be carried out to a T. Next time, I won't be so lenient. Dismissed."

Once Kamiko had left the room in the same disguise as the girl had worn when she had arrived, Hiruzen slumped into his chair. The tense air in the office had finally withered and he felt more like his age than ever before. He exhaled a sigh that held weight.

"If I may, Hokage-sama, ask what is on your mind," Neko said, not trying to undermine both her professionalism and personal interest.

Pulling out his tobacco pipe from a drawer in his desk, Sarutobi said nothing. After stuffing the dried plant leaves into the bell end and lighting it, the old man took a drag on the pipe. Finally, he spoke, "Kamiko Uzumaki; she's a mystery to me. I thought I knew her. She looks so much like her parents. She has Kushina's bright red hair, an Uzumaki for sure. But there are Minato's eyes. But she doesn't act like either of them. What happened to her, Yugao?"

Nodding, the violet haired woman said, "With all due respect, sir, but you cannot expect her to act like them when both are dead. Children act like their parents because of copying and the way they're raised. Meaning that without either, she is entirely different than them. She probably knows nothing of Konoha's Kiiroi Senkō or Akai Chishio no Habanero. Nobody would pin her to be his daughter so they expect nothing of her. She isn't stuck in his shadow and she is free to make her own mark on the world. And I wouldn't expect the civilians to piece it together that she's Kushina's kid."

"What can I do to make up for everything."

She smiled behind her mask. "Do what parents and family can do: watch them grow and guide her if she strays from the path of good." The anbu woman returned to her hiding spot among the shadows.

* * *

The rest of the day was devoted to many tasks. Early after the rain had stopped, the scarlet haired teen had gone on a run; several laps around the inside perimeter of Training Ground 44. While she did have to be on the lookout for gnarled roots, quicksand and other hazards, the young ninja was also alert for foolish predators looking for an easy meal.

After a hearty mid afternoon snack prepared over an open flame, it was then she had decided to finally pack up her belongings. It had only taken an hour to seal what few affectations in the forest shack she had built over the years. She left only emergency rations such as soldier pills she had stolen from corpses, non perishables and first aid rest of the day had been devoted to training. Dusk had set in early when Kamiko got home. To her new home.

Under the welcome mat was a small silver key which was presumed to be a spare her newest sister had hidden in order to let her in if she wasn't there when she was ready. Once inside, a small mudroom had three pairs of footwear already there. One empty space was labeled 'ANBU sandals'. Soon enough, her own shoes sat neatly by the others. Kamiko might live there now, but she still needed to treat the home with respect.

As she went in further, the small alcove opened up into a rectangular sitting room. It seemed the kitchen and dining area were fused into one area. Off to the side revealed a staircase that led to a pair of bedrooms with an adjoining bathroom.

While it wasn't much of an apartment, she knew that it was better than most of what ran for the same price in the Red Light District. But with the distinctly overall feminine vibe peppered with that of a warrior, it was certainly well lived in. Memories in the form of framed photos of people she didn't know dotted the top of one medium sized bookshelf that rose half way towards the ceiling.

A small white square caught the young teen's attention. There under a fruit filled half sphere of hollowed clay. Lifting the bowl weighing the flimsy paper, she brought it up close. The note read:

At the market, be home soon. Don't do anything stupid.

~Yugao

Though she wasn't the most stable in state of mind, Kamiko felt it would be nice to cook dinner for her new military sanctioned roomate, even if it was against her will. It was the least she could do for her new 'sister'.

* * *

When Yugao returned from patrol detail around the Hokage Tower, she strode in only to inhale a heavenly scent wafting in from what she believed to be the kitchen. Her apartment had a very unique key and reinforced windows. So only one person with the spare could be in her home.

"Kamiko? That you in there?"

A warm voice hummed softly, "Yep. In here Yugao-san."

Kicking her sandals off into the right slot, the purple haired jonin hung up her flak jacket and proceeded into her apartment. As Yugao turned the corner, she was met with a surprise.

"Oh my goodness! You made dinner?" she asked as she set the paper bag of groceries on the counter. Her new step-sister was gracious enough to help her put away the fresh vegetables, meat and other food items before turning her back to the stove.

Though mischievous, her grin was genuine. "That I did." Flourishing a pale hand to the rice cooker and the pot simmering on the stove, she elaborated, "I decided to go with simple because it's what I know best. Anyways, simple sticky rice and meat curry, I spiced it with what I could find in your cupboard. That would be curry powder, ginger root, finely julienned onion slivers, minced garlic and a little extra turmeric. The sauce is pureed mango, ginger and a pinch of salt."

Finding herself being pushed down at the table, the young kunoichi of twenty something blushed as her stomach growled. Soon, a plate filled with rice, vegetables, a protein all drizzled in a tangy spiced simmered sauce. As she dug into her meal, Yugao nearly moaned at the flavor explosion occurring on her tongue.

"What kind of meat did you say this was?"

In a small whisper, the crimson haired mischief maker whispered, "That would be giant tiger." If she had looked up, she would have seen the evil spark of triumph in the jinchuuriki's icy blue eyes.

Slowly putting her chopsticks down, Yugao grimaced. Had she known it was an exotic, unknown flesh being served to her, she would have declined. Politely, but nonetheless, it squicked her out. A small voice in her brain reasoned that just because it was unconventional, didn't make it any less tasty. Her mother had drilled manners into her from a young age, even when she had become a kunoichi. "It's good," she said quietly.

"There's more in the freezer. Some cuts are similar to beef chuck while there's also jerked python, caiman flank, choice steak cuts as well as some ground cat as well. It's all quite lean. The fattest and best tasting ones live in the Forest of Death."

Frowning, the dark haired swordswoman asked, "How can a thirteen year old butcher savage animals and then also have the knowledge to cook a complex dish?"

"I learned a lot in my seclusion." Nothing more was to be spoken about that subject. Yugao had prodded but Kamiko gave have no leeway to let the cat squirm into that nook of information.

After the two finished off the remaining rice and curry, both Yugao and Kamiko collaborated on washing dishes. The former scrubbed and rinsed each plate, pot or article of cutlery whilst the later dried and put them away.

For a while, the swordswoman helped her new sister settle in next to her own bedroom. When the bed was made and belongings and clothes were pushed onto the shelves and into drawers, the two ended up talking about random topics for a few hours. That was until the cat masked woman yawned and bid the redhead a good night.

* * *

Early morning was when Kamiko had climbed out of bed and showered. She had no products of her own, so she had only helped herself to a little of Yugao's.

When she had came downstairs, the young kunoichi found her new roomate at the kitchen table. Said woman was nursing a steaming cup of either tea or coffee. Kamiko gave a blearily half-hearted 'good morning' and took a seat. A cup of ginseng and a banana was gently pushed into her hands. After eating something and a little caffeine to help wake her up, Kamiko was asked an odd question.

"Mm, so you're genin now, right?"

"Eyup."

"And is that what you'll be wearing when you go out on missions?"

With a sigh and an eye roll, Kamiko asked, "Where is this going, Yugao-san?"

Throwing a small stack of noted ryo onto the table, the violet haired anbu said, "Miko-chan, you're not going in front of your peers dressed like a penniless ruffian. So, I propose that we go out shopping today and buy you a brand new outfit as well as replace any tools. Top of the line gear. What do you say?"

Kamiko stared at the rather large stack of cash with a sliver of suspicion. "And you're paying for today's excursion with what money? Isn't that for rent?"

"Let's just say I coerced a small sum from the hokage in turn for missed attention," smirked the jounin as she idly twirled a lock of her hair.

The redhead found herself a little surprised at her roomie's less than good two-shoes "Oh. Okay."

"If you're done gawking at me like a kitten who had it's tuna snatched, let's get moving. I wanna haul our butts down to the stores before it gets busy," Neko said impatiently. Kamiko snorted and scooted her chair. Both were out the door within a few minutes.

Lucky for them, the apartments specifically for ANBU agents were located just a few blocks away from the main shopping center.

As they entered a shop called Armaments and Raiment of Blazing Leaves, Yugao didn't fail to notice the disdainful looks thrown to Kamiko. Said redhead was either playing oblivious or was simply choosing to ignore them.

Looking around the store, Kamiko found several 'fashionable' outfits being modeled on manikins. She saw many things varying between being cheap as dirt and beyond expensive. There were a few gossipy girls teeming around some of the 'popular' brands and styles.

It irritated the young Uzumaki that the store actually sold clothes that pretended to be proper ninja armor. Much of the fabric on some articles were so flimsy that stretching the wrong way would cause it to tear. How could they get away with selling such rubbish?

Fortunately, the pharmaceutical and supplemental products were at least of average quality. Her basket was soon filled with a six pack of soldier pills, smoke bombs, caltrops, a garrote, a spool containing twenty four yards of ninja wire as well as a few other odds and ends. Now she just needed something to wear while on missions.

Standard issue flak jackets could only be purchased with proper papers. The same was for hitai-ate headband replacements. It didn't help that they had minimal customization. The joy of living in a dictator controlled country.

Long at last, Kamiko had found the perfect outfit. The main piece was an old fashioned short kimono that fell down only to just a little above her knees. It was mostly a black and indigo but also having a sort of a nebula pattern. The dark gray and teal under skirt was slightly shimmery, giving a mirage effect The sleeves were sectioned just at the shoulder with flexible micro wire mesh to allow a greater range of movement. With the pattern, it easily mimicked a tightly woven fishnet. The obi keeping the garment closed was more of a sash that hung a lower than the kimono itself. The material was a chakra enforced fibre woven into a durable silk that was proven to fend of most non ninjutsu attacks.

Underneath the actual garment, she was supposed to wear a bodysuit that utilized interlocking lightweight scales that looked to be from a reptile. When force pressed against it, it became even harder. Only slashing or jutsu would be able to pierce it, making it a perfect defense against assassination attempts. Just down the sternum of the suit was damascus steel spades spanning from the collar to the end of the ribcage.

To complete the set, it also came with durable ninja tabi mesh thigh high tights and equally tough gloves, all in black. Thankfully they were also lined with a soft fabric to prevent chafing. All in all, it was a gorgeous outfit that she wanted more than anything else she had seen in the shop.

Except that the price tag read a whopping 250,000 ryo.

Biting her lip, Kamiko pulled out her wallet, a little black leather clutch with a fox printed onto it. She had a total of 500,000 on her and that was from the last ten years of working under the table at the Yugata no Hana. Fuck it, she needed this.

Loading up her basket with the outfit and the rest of what she had picked out and headed to the register. She was in the midst of getting out her wallet when the purple haired woman she was forcibly to be adopted by said, "That all looks pricey. I can get it."

"That's nice and all but that's unnecessary. I'm fine paying this myself," said Kamiko as she got out four hundred thousand ryo and handed it to the attendant who in turn returned the change and a receipt.

'Where did she get that money? She's just a thirteen year old...,' wondered the sword wielding jounin as she watched her little sister pay for her own gear. She cleared her throat and asked, "All done here?" The redhead simply nodded and left the store with her bags.

Yugao and Kamiko had stopped at a cafe for lunch after putting their purchases away. The latter of the two females grumbled at the apparent lack of ramen on the menu. The purple haired kunoichi chided her adopted sister about how unhealthy those noodles were but the redhead wasn't listening. She had ended up settling for katsudon while the other woman had gotten a salad and chicken dumplings. Both had tea to accompany their meals.

The echoing clamor of a harsh sound had caught the young kunoichi's attention. They had just left the restaurant and she went to investigate. It was a few blocks down did she slow down, allowing her sister to catch up, wheezing. There was an outdoor forge attached to a small building.

Kamiko found herself enraptured in watching the blacksmith striking a narrow hammer against a glowing orange lump of metal. The man used a pair of tongs to hold the molten piece of steel as he used his tools to fold the metal in on itself. Then with dedicated precision, hammered it flat and proceeded to repeat the process. Eventually, this led to forming a long bladed katana.

When the man decided take a break after all his hard work, he was surprised a little at the redhead girl standing near the forge, not even having seemed bothered or sweating. "Can I help ya?"

A wry smile dotted her lips. "Well now that you mention it, I found myself unable to look away while watching you work on that blade. What I wanted to know, was how much would you be willing to part with that beautiful sword?"

"Well now, I wasn't expecting that," chortled the man. "Most folks like to see a finished blade before dropping even a single ryo on buying. But since you seem to have a discerning eye for quality, I'll sell the finished piece to you for a mere 50,000 ryo. This nodachi was supposed to be a compact katana using a chakra metal and damascus steel alloy. Kind of a tall order but I kinda screwed it up and ended up making it too long. Since I'm still working on it, did you wanna personalize it?"

Smiling with genuine interest, Kamiko said, "Well now that you mention it, I would like to customize it. Do you think you can etch in the Whirlpool symbol at the base of the blade after the guard? And then the kanji for fox on the reverse side?"

"Sure, I can do that. I'll just need to have my assistant help me with the casts and have a scabbard made for it. Once that's all done, I'll have it ready for pick up later today. See anything else catch your interest, young lady?"

Pointing to a bizarrely shaped kama and then to a larger scale dagger like kunai, she said, "Those two. I want them."

Yugao facepalmed. Did this girl have any tact?

With a chuckle, the smith said, "You're truly a unique customer. I've never had anyone give those so much as a glance. They're also a few experimental pieces of mine. Sure I make a lot of katanas, kunai and shurikens, but sometimes, I just want to try to make things that revolutionize how ninja tools are used." He chuckled as he wiped his brow with a rag. "I seemed to have rambled a bit. Tenten will ring you up at the front counter. And then next time you come around, tell me how well they feel."

The girl whose hair was pinned up into two buns shook her head. "You're pretty lucky. It's rare for anyone to purchase anything my dad's actively working on. He's a bit of a perfectionist you see. Anyways, for the weapons and services rendered, that'll be...107,000 ryo."

The older woman reached for her purse but the younger kunoichi told her to put her wallet away. She could foot her own bills. Once paid, they were bid to have a good day and to come back soon.

All in all, Kamiko was satisfied with the day's productivity and their purchases. At the end, Yugao had complimented her on her uncanny style in both fashion and taste in weaponry. Just maybe, they would actually bond like real sisters.

* * *

Friday the thirteenth of September was a wonderful day to the people native to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The air was a tepid seventy seven degrees with very sparse clouds dotting the skies. Every so often, a zephyr would roll in on the evening winds to shed warmth upon the citizens of Konoha before the moon swallows the sun to give way to night. A typical day in the Land of Fire.

Today since it was simply a formality and announcing squadrons to be led under a jounin mentor, the young redhead chose not to wear her newly purchased armor. Instead, she wore a pair of black capris and a light jacket.

Kamiko went straight to the academy to see two other genin graduates waiting for her outside. They showed her the way to the classroom and they were one of the first three to arrive; Kamiko was surprised that the two boys were being so polite to her.

For a while the three academy graduates just talked as the room filled up. It seemed some of the fangirls had noticed Sasuke look at him yesterday and today, the disguised genin was on the receiving end of their hate filled glares. He wanted to tell them off but as Kamiko was about to, Sakura and Ino came barreling through the door.

"I win Ino Pig," Sakura screeched so loud she had to cover her sensitive ears. "Sasuke is mine."

"I was clearly here first," Ino yelled back.

"Can you both shut it," Kamiko growled harshly. This took them both by surprise.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked as she walked over to her as if she owned the place. The immature girl cracked her knuckles in an intimidating manner but it bothered Kamiko very little, if at all.

"You heard me," the redhead said, slowly standing and turned to Ino. "Ino was it? I'm sure you're nice but you should know how a Kunoichi of this village acts. I am sure you will act accordingly on missions away from what starts this but fighting for the attention of a boy is ridiculous. If they don't pay attention as long as you two, or any of you fangirls, have been trying then you aren't what he is looking for in a woman."

Ino looked slightly embarrassed but she knew the other girl was indeed correct. Leaf Kunoichi were some of the top in the field and the way they were acting could put shame to the village if this was a mission. Sakura was a whole other story and she was snickering at Kamiko chastising Ino.

"Don't even get me started on you," said the redheaded vixen forcibly which caused her to stop. "You may not be from a ninja family but from what I have heard, you are the top Kunoichi in the program. Clients think being top makes you special and they are likely to hire the team with the top students. You act this way on a mission you could give a bad rep to all the Kunoichi coming out of this program or get yourself and team killed."

"This part is for everyone to hear now," Kamiko said moving into their view. "As of yesterday we started a path to become ninja. Doing this very well means we can die doing our jobs. Missions can get classed wrong or change with a new threat. Wars start because another country decides they want something another has claim to. In our lifetimes we are bound to bury a friend, a loved one, or a sensei that die in the line of duty. Many of you probably think it won't happen. That because we are one of the strongest villages, it can't happen to us. We have been lucky and have lived our whole lives in peace. I lost both my parents in this line of work thirteen years ago. That is the reality we are facing now. So stop acting like children and face the facts."

"A little more detail then I was going to say." Several ninja turned their heads to see who someone Kamiko presumed was Iruka Umino. Much like the Nara, he had his hair up into a spiky ponytail and across his nose was a large scar. He had overseen the young Uzumaki's pair of clones study everything she had missed in the few years of the academy she had skipped the day before. Apparently, it had been absolutely quintessential that she learn history before being allowed to be a genin. Bah, Kyu-sama could teach her more than those stuffy textbooks. She had learned more on her own than when supervised by an academy instructor. A lot of what she had 'learned' was just a refresher course and the end exam had been passed with flying colors."But a very good speech nevertheless."

"Sorry Iruka Sensei," the redhead kunoichi said, bowing to him.

"Uzumaki, I presume," he said with a smile. It was nice to see no ill intent coming from him but the sensei behind him was another story. From how he looked that would have to be Mizuki.

"Yes sir," came a terse quip. Short, but still respectful...if perhaps a little mocking.

"Well since you had such a nice speech about the reality of the life you all chose I guess you saved me from doing my full speech," he said "Now why don't you take a seat so I can do my bit."

"Yes sir," she repeated and sat next to the Uchiha. The cry baby seemed to have grown up since the two had last seen each other.

"Now what Uzumaki-san said is true and I hope you all take her words seriously. We live in a time of peace but it won't always be that way. And if by some miracle you do stay out of war there are still many dangerous missions," he said walking to the center of the room. Iruka continued."Congratulations, to each and everyone of you for passing the exam to become genin. Your headbands symbolize that you are the new generation of shinobi who will put their lives on the line to protect this village no matter what. While you may have graduated, don't get overly sure of yourself. The future holds great things, both amazing and terrible. Now then. Once your respective jonin leader arrives, you may be dismissed. Now, each you will be split into teams of three-"

"Why trios?" asked some kid across the room in an obnoxiously nasally voice.

"Because your mom's a skank," snipped the instructor in a completely unprofessional voice. Several of the less mature genin couldn't help but but stifle a laugh.

"At least I have a mom!"

Frowning, the chunin said, "Ah, touche. Anyways, moving on. Team 7 will consist of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and...oh god." Iruka sighed. "Kamiko Uzumaki." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Your Jounin sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

The just announced redhead looked over to see that obnoxious pink banshee screeching with joy as she shouted, "Good things do happen to bad people-I mean yay!"

'She's going to be useless..' Kamiko muttered through the telepathic link to his beloved mistress. A quick glance to Sasuke and he nodded. A facepalm at how horrible their team was.

With a soft snort, the fox retorted, _ **'That's putting it lightly, little one.'**_

"Next, Team 8 under Kurenai Yuhi is Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame," continued the the youthful looking chunin.

"Team 9 from last year is still in circulation."

Looking back at his clipboard, the chunin continued, "And finally, Team 10 serving under Asuma Sarutobi is Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara." After he had said a few more words of congratulations, he left.

While the other senseis had arrived quite promptly to pick up their brand new teams, our heroes' own was strangely absent. Since more than ten minutes had passed, Naruto decided to set up an evil prank.

Three hours later, the sensei had finally arrived. Kamiko woke from her nap the moment when she sensed the new presence, opening his eyes in time to see the paper door open. A trap-wire activated to release a splash of pink paint that dyed the silver haired jounin's locks the girliest shade possible. But that wasn't all. A second step inward tripped another trap that launched a weighted rubber ball to launch from a hidden panel on the floor right into the man in the crotch, forcing him to one knee.

"My first impression is... I hate you," deadpanned the one eyed scarecrow, holding his coconuts in minor discomfort as he rose back to his feet.. "Quit playing around and meet me on the roof in five minutes." Then he disappeared.

"Uzumaki! You idiot! You went and upset our sensei!" scolded Sakura meanly, moving to smack the redhead. But she never got the chance to wind up a deadly left hook.

With a single hand sign to gather chakra, the jinchuuriki shunshinned, leaving both Sasuke and Sakura to eat her dust.

Kakashi was a little surprised at the speed which the young kunoichi was able to follow. Only several seconds behind himself. Maybe the child wasn't as much of a dunce as he thought. Kamiko's file had the barest detail whilst saying what few years she had attended had given her low scores. But there were also several pages encoded with chakra but he hadn't been given clearance for that yet. Perhaps the low scores was a front for something? He'd ask the Hokage later.

"I want you three to introduce yourselves, likes, dislikes and dreams for the future. Get to know each other and what not," he mused.

Sakura peeped nervously, "Why do you show us how it's done?"

For a moment, the one eyed scarecrow had almost told the pink haired banshee to stuff a sock in it. She was supposed to be the booksmart one of his team. But instead, he said in the laziest manner possible, "I'm your jounin sensei, Kakashi Hatake. I like a few things and don't particularly dislike a lot. I have many hobbies. My dream...I haven't really given it much thought."

"All you told us was your name!" screeched the fan girl.

"Ah, looks like we have a volunteer. You're up first, pinky," smirked the spiky haired jonin from behind that infuriatingly mysterious mask.

Sitting up a little bit, the civilian born kunoichi chirped with an obnoxious shrillness, "My name is Sakura Haruno, I'm twelve years old. I like beating up puppies, stealing candy from babies. My hobby is," she glanced at the Last Uchiha and giggled surreptitiously. "My goal of the future is..." Gazing at the Rookie of the year with stalkerish adoration, Sakura squealed in delight. "As for my dislikes, I hate that idiot Kamiko and Ino-pig."

Shaking his head, Kakashi groaned. "Ugh. You're next emo shitlord."

Sasuke glared at his sensei before speaking, hands steepled like a cliche villain, "My name...is Sasuke, Uchiha. I don't particularly like anything but I hate many things. It's not so much as a dream, but a goal. I need to get strong enough to kill a certain man. Then, I will restore my clan and bring glory to it."

"I'm Kamiko Uzumaki and my dream is to be the the best of the best. Better than that asshole Minato. So I'mma become Hokage!" yelled Kamiko in the most obnoxious tone she could drop her voice to before the one eyed scarecrow could give her a shitty nickname. "Unlike Lord Mc Broody there, I hafta find a certain man and ask him some questions. Maybe break his nose and then punch him again. I love ramen, reading and playing with animals. I hate perverts, lazy schmucks and people who lack the decency to show up on time. Oh, and I also fuckin hate twats who can't tell the difference between the kunai an' the scroll, 'ttebane!" Sure it was a front of her real personality, but hey, the less people knew, the better.

After his students were finished with introductions, Kakashi thought to himself as a palm glued to his face in utter disappointment, 'Great, I get a fangirl, an emo avenging shitcake, and an insane duplicate of sensei's wife. Why Kami? What did I do to deserve this?'

"We can hear you sensei," Sakura pointed out that their sensei had thought verbally than inside his head like he was supposed to.

Drawing out of his daze, Kakashi said, "Ahem, forget what I said. Anyways, meet me at training ground 7 at six am sharp. Oh, and don't even think about eating breakfast. You'll just end up vomiting. Now get out of here."

As their sensei pulls out an orange book and giggled perversely, Kamiko shook her head. She was going to enjoy kicking Kakashi's ass. If he just so happened to 'expire' during the test, that was alright with her. It would even be fantastic!

* * *

 _ **A/N: Until next time darlings~**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** **Once again, thank y'all for the feedback.**

 **So here's the final tally of the votes between all of you here on , myself and a few friends. Discord is a hell of a drug. Wait what?**

 **Anko 7**

 **Kushina (on the prospect she's really alive) 4**

 **Shikamaru 1**

 **Yugito Nii 8**

 **Mei Terumi 7**

 **Fuu 5**

 **Mabui 3**

 **Haku (either female or MtF transgender) 5**

 **Shino 0 (wow, poor boy gets no love)**

 **Ino 4**

 **Ameyuri Ringo: 3**

 **OC:Satsuki (Sasuke's twin sister long thought dead) 2**

 **Tayuya 1**

 **Kin 1**

 **Kurenai Yuhi: 6**

 **This means the winners of the poll are: Yugito Nii, Anko Mitarashi, Mei Terumi and Kurenai Yuhi.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter IV**_

Kamiko was the first to arrive at the training ground where the four would rendezvous daily for the rest of the time she, Sasuke and Sakura would remain genin. For her, it would be a temporary allotment.

Said genin was sitting at an uprooted stump, tending to a fire with giant skewered filet of tiger roasting in the fire. She was humming as she tore into the succulent cooked meat. Bloody juices dribbled down her chin as she enjoyed the blissful flavor.

"Kamiko! What the hell are you doing! Sensei told us not to eat," screeched Sakura, moving in the smack the redhead upside the head. Making it seem like it was a total fluke, the vixen dodged seamlessly without expending unnecessary energy.

"I eat every morning. Unlike some fuckin retards, I don't diet. Why? Because we're fucking ninja!" screamed the redhead as she clutched the half eaten breakfast, giving a territorial snarl. "We live an active lifestyle, so no need to eat less. So you should eat more so you don't faint!"

"This is good," Sasuke murmured as he bit into one of the filets. "What kind of meat did you say it was? It's gamey like venison but leaner. I mean damn, this is really good"

Without skipping a beat, the crimson haired jinchuuriki replied tersely, "Giant Tiger."

Sakura immediately took on a green hue in the face. Pushing the seasoned shank back towards her teammate, she swallowed thickly, "I suddenly...lost my appetite."

With a shrug both of the other two team members continued eating. Sakura returned later, still looking a tad nauseous. Kamiko deduced that she had puked in a bush and washed her face in the river.

Three hours passed since seven am. To pass the time, Kamiko did a light spar with Sasuke while Sakura cheered her fantasy lover on with her obnoxiously shrill voice. Afterwards, they had a light second breakfast consisting of scavenged berries, fruit and nuts.

It was only then did their sensei finally arrive. Ten thirty when they had been told to arrive at seven AM. To say the three youths were displeased would be quite the understatement of the century.

"My time has been wasted waiting when I could have been getting stronger to avenge my clan," scowled the Lord of the Emo. "I demand you skip the stupid test and start training me right now!" Of course all he was thinking about was killing his elder brother.

Thinking her input was necessary, the pink banshee screeched, "Yeah! You should be ashamed of wasting Sasuke-Kun's precious time. The council will hear of this!"

"This better not become a habit with us or I swear I will rip your fucking jewels off and feed it to a pack of starving wolves," threatened the redhead in her warmaiden's kimono

Thinking his cute little students were bluffing, the silver haired jonin clapped his gloved hands together and said, "Alright, let's get to it kiddos. Your task in this exam is to get these two bells from me before the timer goes off," spoke the one eyed scarecrow, lofting a pair of silver balls that jingled pleasantly when moved. As he attached them to his belt, Kakashi said, "When I say go, you must come at me with the intent to kill. You have until noon to get these pretties or it's back to the academy with you three." He counted his fingers and then said..."Go."

As soon as the words to begin were uttered, both Sasuke and Sakura ran to find a hiding spot to formulate a plan in order to possibly pass the test.

Except Kamiko.

The jinchuuriki was picking at her teeth with a metal senbon, trying to dislodge a piece of meat stuck between her highly pronounced canines. She didn't seem to register that his sensei had told them to start and continued poking the extinguished campfire out with her sandal. After giving a little 'ahah' of victory, she turned his icy gaze to the one eyed Shinobi and frowned. "The fuck you lookin at, shithead?"

"Are you stupid or something? The others at least have the decency to hide," scoffed Kakashi as he raised an eyebrow at the girl wearing a kimono. Granted it looked somewhat made for battle, but it also looked like it was more for show than combat.

Crossing her arms like an arrogant, overconfident teen, Kamiko declared, "I'm not moving from this spot. I've been here since six in the morning, I don't mind staying a bit longer. How about you come over here? I'd like to see what's under that stupid mask of yours, Inu."

Pulling out a little orange book named Icha Icha: Makeout Paradise, Kakashi leaned against an imaginary wall. "No thanks."

"Pussy."

Looking up, he found those blue eyes steel into harsh winter. The crimson haired brat was trying to goad him into rushing into a fistfight or a skirmish. He wasn't going to fall for it. He wasn't that stupid. Asuma and Gai would probably fall for it, but not he.

With a shrug, the genin toyed with a leaf that had fallen on her head. It appeared that the sliver of vegetation stuck to the teen's middle and index finger before it began spinning in a spiral around the pale wrist. Her bored expression abruptly spawned into a devilish grin. In a mocking tone, Kamiko scoffed, "What a disappointment. I thought all Hatake men were proud warriors, not washed up, fleabitten cowards. How pathetic. I think I'd be ashamed to have someone like you as my sensei. Your father was also a useless, coward. Maybe I should talk to the old man and ask for new sensei who's prompt for meetings and a not worthless sack of shit."

With an infuriated snarl, Kakashi put his erotic novel back into his back pocket pouch. Then he withdrew a kunai and charged. "You stupid, little brat. I wasn't going to put 2 percent of my effort for this exercise, but you asked for it. You can consider your ass kicked. No one insults my father!"

As soon as the legacy of the Silver Fang was less than a meter away, a buried explosive tag went off sending Kakashi into the air. At the same time, Kamiko clicks another tag beneath her own feet, this one activating a three sixty degree barrage of weaponry all aimed at the trigger spot.

To dodge the hail of shuriken and kunai, the white haired jounin substituted himself himself with a nearby log, his life flashing before his eyes. 'Is she actually trying to kill me?' thought Kakashi while crouched upon a stout branch, his form blending into the forested camouflage. He berated himself for calling for such an obvious trap, but his emotions clouded his vision.

Spreading his fingers, palms up, a thin cord chakra snaked into the handles of the weapons for a second go. Aiming at her sensei's silhouette, Kamiko jerked her hands and the shuriken and kunai followed orders. Again, Kakashi was forced to substitute with another log, reappearing in the middle of the training ground, mostly unhurt. He hadn't been able to dodge all of them in time, evident by several cute cuts and shredded clothes.

With his sensei flushed out of the cover of the verdant environment, Kamiko could now focus easier on retrieving the objective.

With a snicker, Kyushira giggled, " **Glad I made you learn to use chakra strings. You have him on the defense! How about you engage in some taijutsu?"**

In full agreement with his tenant, the redhead lowered herself into a stance that her sensei didn't recognize. It was her own style. "Lesson one, Taijutsu."

The two ninja traded blows for some odd two hundred seconds before the smaller of the pair vaulted back, using a half somersault while simultaneously rotating a wrist to launch herself out of Kakashi's range.

Frowning, the white haired male lunged at his student. It was unnerving to be caught off guard by someone so small and young. And the redheaded youth was also using her own psychological warfare against himself. This time, he aimed to punch his student's jaw.

Sweeping Kakashi's strike out of her personnel, Kamiko jabbed the older male in the solar plexus, the left leg and the right arm in the span of four seconds. A little jolt of electricity sparked between the two fingers and his chest where he found himself unable to move. His eye was barely able to make out the whispered incantation.

"What the?! Genin can't perform the Kanashibari ! It's too advanced!" exclaimed the temporarily immobilized jonin. "It's an ANBU black ops technique!"

Giggling madly, Kamiko cooed, "Oh silly Bakashi, you think so lowly of me? You're a complete fool. Deception is a shinobi's best friend. Why else would I pretend to be an absolute buffoon?"

"NOW YA BASTARD," yelled the girl as two of her clones grabbed each of Kakashi's ankles from beneath the earth. She herself threw her sensei into an unbreakable Full Nelson.

Jumping out of a tree, the raven haired Uchiha blazed through a series of hand seals before forming a choke point to force the chakra to burst out of his mouth. The result was a massive fireball hurtling towards the redhead and silver haired jonin.

' _Fire...didn't do a thing to her?!'_ groaned Kakashi as he managed to kick himself free from Kamiko the moment the sphere of flame began singe his clothes.

Suddenly, the exotic kunoichi disappeared in a puff of smoke, denouncing that Kamiko as a mere Shadow Clone. Just before she exploded, she flashed the bird to Kakashi who was hiding in a tree.

"When did she switch out for a clone?" muttered the jonin, a little impressed by his genin's clever move. Kakashi was actually sweating for once; none of his previous genin aspirants had been able to push him this far. But just this one was a whole different breed of crazy!

Since being on the defense since the start, Kakashi decided it would look better if he was able to disable at least one or two of them. "I think I'll mess with Sakura a little bit."

Said pinkett was wandering the forest when Hatake found the girl. She appeared quite lost, which was surprising to Kakashi since the girl's file had said the girl had been the Kunoichi of the year; top marks in history, theory and everything technical while her taijutsu was a little below average and shuriken-jutsu was at a standard genin level.

With the minimal amount of chakra, the jonin sensei applied the easiest D-rank genjutsu; one that a seven year old could learn no problem.

Crawling out from a bush was an imaginary figment of a certain raven haired, onyx eyed Uchiha. But he was in bad condition. Several kunai had pierced his body and his left foot was missing. One eyeball was half gouged out and several ribs poked out at odd angles. He was going to die.

"Huh?" blinked Sakura, wondering if this was real.

The fake illusion of Sasuke pleaded, "Ughh, Sakura...help...me..." Then then the faux boy collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

She blinked a few times. Then she unleashed an ear shattering shriek before fainting.

Disappointed, Kakashi went for the raven haired youth, thinking as he navigated through the forested zone of the training ground, ' _That idiot girl will need to be broken from her fangirlism and built from the ground up. If this shitty team passes the test.'_

After a little close quarters combat and a trade of E-rank ninjutsu, Kakashi was disappointed in the so-called 'Last Uchiha'. Perhaps he was biased after taking on Kamiko, but they still hadn't directly teamed up against him when it would have been the most effective method.

"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu!" exclaimed Kakashi as he completed the hand seals. Bursting out of the ground, the one eyed scarecrow grabbed the ankles of an unexpected black haired kid and dragged him down into the earth so only his head remained above ground and the rest, immobilized.

Snarling angrily, Sasuke seethed, "What the hell?"

With a wag of the finger, the Copycat ninja chastised, "I told you to expect the unexpected. In the world of shinobi, there is no such thing as honor. You do what you must to survive and that means dirty tricks."

"You got that right, but aren't you being a hypocrite?" came the redhead's distorted query. Her voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

When the vixen finally revealed herself, Kakashi found that the genin no longer had the air of a foolish genin, but of someone who was one hundred percent serious about trying her best to kill him.

Lifting the slanted hitai-ate up, the silver haired man revealed a crimson eye with three perpendicular tomoe that seemed to judge and analyze everything caught in its gaze.

" **Kit! He's pulling out that blasted Sharingan of his,'** warned the vixen sealed inside his gut. She could feel her host mentally thanking her for the warning. His techniques were one of a kind, and there was no way either the fox or the jinchuuriki was going to allow them to be stolen by a lazy cock sucker.

Weaving through a few hand signs as she kited the man who had begun to chase her, she finished with the tori sign and intone in a deadly manner, " _ **Ninpo-** **Kitsune Art: Yosuzume!"**_

Kakashi was panicking as he notice the vision in his implanted eye blur and darken until he couldn't see anything out of the borrowed oculus. Forcing himself to push the forehead protector back down over his eye, he cursed and gripped his tanto in a two handed form. He was going to be seriously handicapped.

Kamiko unsheathed her nodachi in a reverse grip and gave a sickening grin. "You forget who first taught me. Itachi was powerful and so I developed this jutsu to nullify any dojutsu with the help of Kyu-sama. He also taught me a few beautiful techniques. Now prepare your anus, because I'll impale you ass to brain with this sword if you don't take me seriously."

With surprising speed, the genin flashed forward and swung the weighty blade with surprising ease. Raising his tanto just in time to block the diagonal slash, the jonin barely managed to parry the slash off to the side. Feeling bold, he jabbed straight into his genin's chest before Kamiko could counter.

Instead of blood leaking out from the wound, the kunoichi grinned, " **Bunshin Daibakuha**..."

Widening his eyes just in time for the shadow clone to explode, the scarecrow gasped in pain as the outside of his arms received 2nd degree burns, the sleeves of his latex bodysuit burnt to a cinder. "Fuck!"

' _Dammit, she's aiming for my blind spot because she knows my reaction isn't as fast when I don't have my sharingan,'_ Kakashi groaned to himself as he tumbled forward to dodge a savage blow that could have taken off a limb or two. ' _She wasted no time going on the offensive again.'_

At this point, the two were evenly matched, but the jonin was quickly tiring out. His stamina whittled away while Kamiko had barely chipped away at her enormous reserves. Skillswise, Kakashi had the upper hand with his years of experience, but his student had a ferocity unmatched by any previous ninja before; a determination and a will to never back down.

The moment the older ninja's footwork slipped, the Uzumaki heir hurtled forward, kicking her sensei against a tree and pressed a blade against the man's neck.

"Yield," snarled the scarlet haired woman, her icy blue eyes flickering a bloody crimson for the briefest of moments. To make her point, the razor edge of the nodachi nicked the older male's neck. Blood trickled from the shallow cut. "I said...YIELD!"

"I..." The timer buzzed, indicating time was up. "I yield...for now. Eat your lunches, except you Sakura. You deserve that much," spoke the one eyed scarecrow with a frustrated sigh."One more thing, whatever you do, don't feed the useless deadweight. After lunch, she's going back to the academy. You two, however, will have one more chance to capture one of these two bells."

"This isn't fair! I'm just a genin! You can't expect me to go up against a jounin and do anything!" screamed the flat chested banshee as she struggled futilely against her bindings.

Kakashi being Kakashi, just body flickered out of the field, leaving the trip trio of genin unattended.

As much of a sadist as she was, Kamiko needed the two in order to become a genin. "Sakura, shut the fuck up and eat the stupid food I'm offering you. And no, the food was supplied by our sensei. I wouldn't force you to eat tiger if you don't want to. Hurry, before that porn reading weirdo gets back."

Resigning herself to be fed by the psycho, the pinkette opened her lips and closed her eyes. A moment later, a piece of chicken glazed with a sweet ginger sauce and a bite of rice was pushed into her tiny mouth.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY?!" screamed the one eyed scarecrow as he appeared from nowhere via high-speed body flicker technique, a kunai in his left hand.

Reluctantly, Kamiko shot back, "Don't be a hypocrite you ass. The whole point of this exercise is teamwork like you said. I've read read file on you ever since a friend let it slip you were my new sensei. I was prepared."

Blinking, Sakura asked, "I get points for flailing and falling over?" In the banshee's mind her inner personality yelled, 'Chyaa! I'm fucking awesome."

"You all...pass."

"What?"

Sasuke muttered, "Jackass."

With an eye-smile, the one eyed scarecrow said, "Just barely. I'm pleased that you and Sasuke worked as a team, even if it wasn't entirely effective. Teamwork is an essential part of being a shinobi. Now, we'll do some team building training for. Few days and then begin completing D-ranks. Meet me here tomorrow at six AM, sharp." He turned to stroll away before adding, "Oh, and one more thing. Shinobi who quit the mission are trash, but someone who abandons their comrades are worse than scum."

A lofted red brow began twitching uncontrollably as a threat was made. "You have ten seconds to start running before I cut your other eye out. And I'm not going to be gentle. So I suggest you start hauling ass. Oh yeah, if you make us wait three fucking hours for you again, I'll do to you what I did three times as hard. And I'll burn all your trashy smut!"

Sweating profusely, the silver haired jounin instructor hightailed it out of training ground seven to lick his wounds. The kid was no joke! He was actually fearing for his own life!

"Was that threat necessary?" asked Sasuke as he wiped his forehead.

Snickering, Kamiko replied, "No, but it was funny as hell."

* * *

The Third Hokage stood before a group of twelve jonin instructors. Each of them had been assigned three students. Some had been given no choice while the more veteran Shinobi were given a little more pick of who they wanted to train. All of the jonin whom had tested their teams had assembled to grant the eligibility to officially join the Shinobi corps.

When it appeared the Copycat ninja wasn't coming on time, the elderly monkey asked, "You all gave your genin their real exams. Which among you passed their exam?"

"Team 1, failed. Civilians are not fit to be ninja. None could do more than cry when punched. My advice is for them to drop out of the program, permanently."

Another stepped forward. "Team 2, failed. Their failure to rescue the hostage due to refusing to work together. They bickered and wasted the time allotted. Sent back to the academy."

"Team 3, passed. Just barely. They have a lot to work on, but they have potential," grunted one in the back of the group.

It was apparent that teams 4 through 6 were still in circulation and the corresponding jounin simply gave the Hokage a report on current progress versus the Shinobi standards.

"How about you?"

Stiffening at being called out, a crimson eyed woman with raven black hair stood to attention. "Kurenai Yuhi; squad 8 performed well and passed with flying colors. Their ability in tracking and reconnaissance is excellent. That said, the Hyuuga heiress will have to learn enemies cannot be shown kindness or pity. There aren't any flaws with the Aburame while Kiba needs his 'alpha dog' mentality kicked to the curb."

Again, Team 9 was still in circulation.

Though he was itching for a cigarette, Asuma Sarutobi said, "While it took a little motivation, my brats were able to pass the test well within the time limit. That damn lazy Nara outplayed me with surprising strategy."

Suddenly, the door budged open to admit one Kakashi Hatake. Stumbling in, the others found him in terrible condition. His clothes were singed and covered in soot while his hair was STILL pink.

"Kakashi! You look like hell. What did your team do to you?" gasped Iruka who had also been in attendance.

Breathing haggardly, the silver haired jonin spat, "Not my team. They were just slightly above average. Just that little monster. She's crazy strong for her 'supposed' genin rank. The asshole forced me to use my sharingan or she would have ripped my dick off or worse! There's something not right with her!"

"Who is he talking about?" Kurenai whispered to her friend.

Anko Mitarashi smirked and patted the woman's shoulder. "Kamiko Uzumaki of course. Rumor has it that after Itachi Uchiha massacred his entire clan, she retreated into the Forest of Death for the last six years. I'm guessing she trained her little butt off and can even go toe to toe with Mr Monocle. I'm betting a whole plate of dango that's why Kakashi looks like he'll faint like a little bitch any moment."

"Be nice," scolded the pink eyed Ice Queen of Konoha.

The Snake mistress just huffed and muttered something about her best friend ruining her fun.

"What's the verdict for Team 7?"

Groaning as an antiseptic was pressed to the worst of his injuries, Kakashi coughed and answered. "At first, none of them wanted to work together which was the point of my survival test. Kamiko trapped a good portion of the training ground and lured me into them, showing remarkable preparation. When she was able to go even with me in taijutsu, I pulled out my sharingan. But the brat seems to have a genjutsu or something to render it temporarily useless. They were to steal two bells in the allotted time." He paused to wince as a laceration on his shoulder was quickly sutured shut.

Kurenai was flabbergasted that this genin had a method to make one of the most potent bloodlines was useless in a fight. A part of her was proud of the girl for learning genjutsu despite how often and severely undermined many shinobi believed the art to be. ' _I would like to cross paths with this girl one day. Perhaps, I can be redeemed from my failure with Yakumo,'_ thought the Ice Queen.

"Looks like we have a talented crop of potentials in the making. The next generation will surely surpass us," murmured Asuma, observing how many academy students graduated to genin and passed their official exam.

* * *

For the first five months the three genin were apprenticed under Kakashi, all they had learned was a few team building exercises, yet not a single new jutsu was taught by the silver haired jounin. That aspect seemingly who have to be taken into their own hands. To make matters worse, they were stuck doing D-Rank missions which was really just assisting villagers who were too lazy to do it themselves much to the genin's ire.

Not only were the 'missions' hardly challenging, but they were too easy. And then there was the fact that each one was completed in record time due to Kamiko's ability to mass replicate. Normally, it would hardly be a problem...except that they tried taking on multiple missions a day. In turn, it would ruin the economy and prevent other genin from earning an income. They'd in fact, been limited to only one a day after the first two weeks of attempting to do eight in a single day.

One of the missions had been permanently eliminated; 'Capture the Demon Cat' had been taken off the charter when Tora had willingly leaped into Kamiko's arms after mauling Sasuke's face when the redhead had gently asked the feline to come to her. And when they had turned in the mission for the tenth time, Kamiko had taken words with the Daimyo's wife to be gentler to her animal companion. Everyone had expected the woman to order the crazy teen to death, but she had instead, thanked the young kunoichi for her advice and told her she might invite Kamiko the next royal ball in the capitol. At that day, everyone in that office looked at the same redhead incredulous.

As the four man cell finished second breakfast after training, they stopped in to see if they could grab a mission for the day. Daily missions were essential for any shinobi, regardless of alliances or affiliations.

"Ah, good morning, Team 7," said Iruka while Hiruzen just puffed on that pipe of his. "What will it be today? The Inuzuka's dogs need walked, Mrs Utawari needs her gardens weeded, the fence at the hot springs need fixed and painted. Oh, and the rice paddies outside of town needs to be de-infested." The young brunette hummed and added, "And babysitting at the orphanage."

Several people shuddered at the mention of the parentless cretins. Usually, they're decently behaved, but often out of control despite the matron's best attempts to reel them into line. Naruto had once been one of those unruly imps and swore she would never step into that building ever again.

"I'm done doing glorified household chores disguised as shitty missions," growled the young redhead, flipping the middle finger to the Hokage. "Give me ... er, us a mission worthy of our time. I'm sick of doing slave work you fucking asshole. This is the kind of shit those cretins in the academy should be doing!"

"You disrespectful little shit!" scowled one of the chunin, jumping out of his chair to teach the 'demon' a lesson on manners. The man beside him grabbed the would-be assailant's arm and shook his head. There was no need to incur the wrath of the Prankster Queen..

"Or perhaps you want the people of this village to learn of your less than reputable 'hobby' of yours. I'm sure the leader of the Kirigakure rebel group would love to know that the almighty 'God of Shinobi' reads smut when he should be doing paperwork. Or perhaps I ought to let it slip to the national women's association about your orb of scry-"

"T-that won't be necessary," coughed the old man. Inwardly, Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled to himself as he mused, _'She really is a spitting image of her mother. The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero seems to live on inside her little girl._ Taking a puff from the pipe in his hands, he contemplated his options. He could allow Team Seven to take an escort mission, but there were too many factors that could go wrong. But if he gave them another D-rank, Kamiko would probably be really upset. And he didn't want to think of the consequences of the blackmail she had against , they would probably be alright taking a C-rank mission. He lifted a brow and hummed as he wracked his brain. A few minutes passed in silence.

Making up his mind, the Hokage cleared his throat and exhaled the ruminating smoke, speaking, "Actually, I think it's appropriate wean them off of easy missions behind the safety of the village gates," the Hokage iterated, his cheeks turning a little pink at the insinuated blackmail. He rummaged in the pile of sorted scrolls and picked up one with a blue border. This, he handed to Kakashi. "This is a C ranked escort mission. You'll be bodyguards, protecting an architect who specializes in bridges. He needs to get back home to Nami no Kuni. The Land of Waves is a few days journey on foot. The time frame we're looking at for the completion of this job is under thirty days."

Sasuke scowled at the thought of being a bodyguard to an insignificant old man. He was probably a smelly, had tempered old man. Why couldn't they they have a princess to escort? He was an elite by birthright!

"Bring in the client."

All four members of Team Seven turned their heads to face a now opening door which revealed a middle aged man with a bit of a belly. His cheeks were flushed from being slightly drunk evident by the unlabeled brown bottle in his hand. He had a receding hairline and his once dark brown hair was peppered with some gray. Dressed in plain brown worker's clothes and piece of rope tied around his forehead, he honestly didn't amount to a whole lot.

"What's this? Is this a joke? They're just a bunch of snot nosed brats. You there, shrimp in the front. You dress weird. Are you really a ninja?" harrumphed the red faced, swarthy man.

"Please don't antagonize her. Kamiko is very violent, but she has the skills to do the job. They might be a little green, but they're good. Besides, I'll be there and I happen to be a jonin. No harm will come to you as long as I'm around," Kakashi assured the bridge builder.

"Damn better keep me alive, it's what I'm paying you for!" growled the man as he tugged open the cork.

Snatching the bottle of sake out of the old man's grasp before he could even take a sip, Kamiko sniffed a few times and took a quick swig. Then she handed it back and said, "Ah, sweet pumpkin brew, three years fermented. Shame I can't get shit faced..."

"Impressive, brat," said the greying short hair. Finishing off the rest of his sake, the old man then said, "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change the world and I'm expecting you will get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

Turning the the one eyed scarecrow, he asked, "When are we leaving?"

* * *

The next morning team seven and their client reconvened at the southern gates just after daybreak. Kakashi was on time for once with both astounded and confounded by such an occurrence. When prodded about his 'early' arrival, he had muttered something about evil breadsticks and a fox. This just confused them even more. He told them to drop it.

Once it was inventoried on what supplies they were bringing and who carried what, they started on the road by foot. It was necessary because the bridge builder didn't have the stamina to tree hop.

"YES!" exclaimed Kamiko, letting out a whoop of excitement.

Staring dumbly at the red haired girl, Sakura asked, "What are you getting so worked up about Kamiko?"

Grinning, said kunoichi responded as she surveyed the road, "This is the first I get to leave the village. I'm a traveler now, dattebane! I can finally see the world!"

"HEY! Am I really supposed to entrust my life in the hands of this runt? She's a joke!" said Tazuna, pointing insolently at the excited kunoichi.

Sweat-dropping, Kakashi assured the bridge builder, "She's with me and I'm a jounin, so you don't need to worry. You'll be fine and we'll get you to your destination in one piece."

The words of the old man began to stew in Kamiko, repeating over and over for a solid minute before she whirled around, pointing a finger at Tazuna and said with sass, "Hey! Never insult a ninja. It's a big mistake and I'm one of the greatest kunoichi ever! Someday, I'm going to be the first female hokage and you'll look up to me! My name is Kamiko Uzumaki, and you better remember it!"

"Oh, kage are powerful and wise," he began, sarcasm already dripping from his words like the sake from his lips. "You are puny and brainless. The day you become hokage is the day I sprout wings and fly."

They continued to argue for a few minutes until Kamiko launched herself at the bridge builder only to be caught by her sensei. "I told you, we're supposed to protect the client, not attack them. Now let's go before the sun gets any higher." Huffing, Kamiko agreed she wouldn't kill the old man and began the long trek to Nami no Kuni.

As they were walking, Sakura asked suddenly, "Say... Mr Tazuna, your country is the Land of Waves, correct?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

A gleam in her eyes, the pink haired kunoichi continued, "Kakashi sensei, there are ninja in that country too, right?"

"No, there are no ninja in the Land of Waves," corrected the one eyed shinobi. "But in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures where ninja reside. To the people of this continent, shinobi villages means strength, military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain balance with neighboring countries. Though ninja villages have no secure form of government, they are independent from the rest and have equal status as ones who do. Now a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection with being surrounded by water, so they have no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that have shinobi are: the Land of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Lightning. Each occupy vast territories. Together, they are known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations." He paused to take a quick break before continuing, "The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist. The Land of Lightning, Village Hidden in the Clouds. The Land of Wind has the Village hidden in the Sand. And Earth has the Village Hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these villages are allowed to have the title, kage. They are the Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage. They are the five shadows that rule over thousands of shinobi."

Snorting Kamiko said as Sakura looked really pleased with herself, "Thanks for the history and geography lesson, but it was totally lame!" Everyone else sweat-dropped at the red haired girl being rather clueless.

* * *

By the position of the sun, it was just a little past noon. They'd stopped briefly to pass around energy protein bars that were meant to be meal replacements. A canteen of fresh water was also passes between the shinobi and the client. It was an hour before anything interesting replaced the boredom already setting in.

As they walked in a tightly knit group, Kamiko sensed something amiss. Her vision was extraordinarily sharp for a human and the shallow puddle on the side of the road was extraordinarily suspicious.

' _Does the enemy think we're that stupid enough to fall for such an idiotic tactic?'_

With an amused snort, Kyushira replied, ' _ **You can't expect all humans to be as intelligent as you, kit. It seems these fellows are surely quite dim for believing such a ruse as that could not be seen through. Do me a favor Miko-chan, and dispose of these worthless insects.'**_

' _Of course, Mistress,'_ the jinchuuriki chirped back to the Kyuubi through their mental connection. Sometimes, she loved being able to communicate telepathically with her bijuu. Except when she was being a pervert.

Tapping on Kakashi's shoulder to get the older man's attention, the red haired kunoichi whispered, "May I, 'sensei'?"

With a grunt of annoyance, he acquiesced and let his student purposely fall back from the group. Both the client and the redhead's fellow genin looked back at their teammate, wondering what was wrong. Sasuke was about to call Kamiko a loser for not being able to keep up when an unfamiliar pressure paralyzed him to the spot.

Once the group has walked about a meter from the tiny puddle, spiked chains flew from behind and wrapped around Kakashi's body. Spinning around to see what was going on, everyone gasped, completely surprised.

"Do it!" shouted one of the assailants. Both of the foreign ninja jerked their chains backward in attempt to eviscerate their prey. Of course it failed when what should have been a pool of blood, was just a pile of logs.

"Now it's your turn," the other attacker said with malevolent glee in his eye. He went to slash Kamiko's neck only to be dodged effortlessly. Her enemy still in motion, the other headed straight for her. The crimson haired kunoichi jabbed one of the almost identical attacker in the throat with a kunai. This caused the ninja to cough and stagger backwards, clutching vainly at his throat.

When one of the rogue shinobi changed course and headed for Tazuna, the last Uchiha broke out from his daze and drew a kunai. He chucked it with all his might. It caught one of the links of the chain connecting the clawed gauntlets and pinned him to the tree just behind.

The assailants were a pair missing ninja from Kirigakure observed from the slashed hitai-ate on their surviving Kiri nin asked, coughing, "H-how the fuck did you know about our ambush? Our camouflage was flawless!"

Answering, Kakashi said with a bored look on his face, well as much of it as anyone could see, "A puddle on a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks. Sloppy. If you'd questioned the locals about the weather, maybe you could have thought of a better hiding spot. Even Kamiko saw through your disguise."

Emotionlessly, Kamiko drew her kama. She hooked the curved blade behind the mist nin's neck and then jerked her arm back towards her body. It was a nearly seamless decapitation, but it could have been better by miles. The one used on the already dead ninja was even messier, probably from her shaking hands.

"Y-You killed them!" screamed Sakura, wiping her mouth from vomiting.

Looking to Kamiko, Kakashi asked, ignoring the pink haired girl's outburst and accusation to his other student. "So who was their target?"

Cracking her neck, the redhead replied as she wiped the blood off of her blade with a rag, "The old man. Turns out Gozu and Meizu were hired by the shipping Magnate Gato. Before I killed them, they foolishly had their entire mission details written down. They were working with two other rogue ninja from Kiri. Ones who aren't pushovers. Hand me some sealing scrolls, won't you, sensei?"

Interrupting, the old man with graying hair asked, "If you'd noticed, then why the hell did you leave the genin to do the fighting?"

"I could have taken them out quickly," began the the leader of Team Seven, "But then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was. And, what they were after..."

"Huh, what are you getting at?" asked the old man as he verbally challenged Kakashi.

Turning to Tazuna, Kakashi frowned and crossed his arms once he had tossed his student empty scrolls to contain the bounty. "I wanted to know if they were after us; ninja attacking other ninja, or... if they were after you, the master bridge builder." Kakashi cracked his neck. "When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen. You never said there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew that earlier, it would have been a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew there were other ninja involved, we would have staffed accordingly and charged for a B mission. It seems you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"We're genin, this is too advanced for our current skill level," piped in the pink haired banshee sadly. "We really should go back. I don't think we're ready for this. Plus, you lied to us."

Sweating, the old drunk replied, "I didn't mean to deceive you Leaf ninja. Our country is poor because that man is a tyrant. Even our nobles are financially limited. So I'm building a bridge to be able to read with other countries to restore our economy. I understand if you want to abandon me..."

"By all means, standard protocol would to abandon you and return to our Village. However, I think my genin would have my hide if we just left you to die. Plus the redhead menace is itching for a real challenge. Very well, we shall continue to guard your life until the bridge is complete," said Kakashi in a firm tone.

Bowing before before three Shinobi in a grovel, the bridge builder cried, "Oh thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am. My daughter and grandson will be so relieved to see me come home in one piece. I promise when the bridge is done and our economy returns to normal, I'll pay you back double what I owe."

After a quick water and ration break, the small group headed into the Land of Waves, aware the mission would only get harder from there on out.

* * *

Since the bridge builder hadn't the energy to travel through the night, the Leaf ninja were forced stop for rest. Not everyone had Kamiko's freakish stamina. So they found a little rock outcropping with a slight overhang surrounded by a dense bamboo thicket that would conceal them fairly well.

Using a few shadow clones, Kamiko had quickly erected the tents. There were two: one for the men to share while Sakura and the jinchuuriki would take the other. Sasuke was sent off to hunt while Sakura was to gather kindling for the fire. When everyone had completed their task, Team 7 and Tazuna had eaten rabbit stew cooked over the fire.

After dinner, the redhead had begun to doze off; she wasn't going on watch until three AM to dawn when they would set out once more. But it didn't last long when the tug pulled her through the seal.

"Hey! I was enjoying my nap!" Kamiko griped, finding herself in the expansive forest that made up her mindscape. "I have to be up in five hours to take watch."

A massive nine tailed fox bounded in towards her location. When it arrived, the fur seems to melt into nothingness and the size receded to a mere six feet tall. This smaller fox stood on its hind legs as pass morphed into slender hands and feet. The muzzle regressed inward to reveal a woman with high cheekbones and robed with a traditional red kimono. She was almost human, except her ears and tails.

During her first ever face to face meeting with Lady Kyushira, Kamiko had morphed the sewer that had been her mind into the forested meadow. There was no more sewer and no more dreadful twists and turns. To deal with the seal and the bars, Kamiko had used her vivid imagination to change the prison cell into a diamond embedded choker that had a pendant that acted as the seal instead. She in turn, had a leather choker around her neck to denote her status as her pet. It was her mind after all.

With a small flick to her container's forehead, the Kyuubi said, "Your body's resting in the real world. You will wake up refreshed as usual and the effects of training in here will be as though nothing happened. So don't complain."

"Training?"

"I think you're ready for a new technique, one belonging to your line. You did well in response to that ambush. Also I'm using one of the favors I owe you. The women of the Uzumaki clan are blessed with more chakra than men. Denser and stronger. They are chakra chains, formally known as Adamantine Sealing Chains. It's a rare technique and not every woman was able to even conjure them, let alone know of their existence. But I think you have what it takes to use your mother's legacy."

Kyushira's iridescent eyes glittered with anticipation as she sat across from the crimson haired ninja. She must have seen her warden's excitement as she spoke."The first thing you must know is that these chains are wholly a part of you. Neither I nor you make them; they naturally form as your chakra reserves grow. Right now, you only have four of them inside you, and you only need to learn to coax them out on command. They're there, you only need to give them shape."

"Okay..."

"I want you to close your eyes, and take a good look inside yourself. There's plenty of chakra around, just like every living thing. Part of that chakra will be different...thicker. No, don't look at mine. It moves slower than your normal reserves. Think of it like pudding and your everyday chakra like water. Before you can shape, you need to identify and draw it out."

"Dammit! I can't make them come out," yelled the kunoichi in frustration,punching the soft turf beneath them.

As amused as the fox was she said, "Relax kit, it takes a lot of practice just to manifest them. Your first time wasn't bound to be successful. Rest for now and try again tomorrow. "

Kamiko was inclined to disobey her mistress, but the look she gave her changed her mind real quick. One thing she had learned in her years of isolation, was to never piss off a thousand plus year old demon fox comprised of hateful and negative chakra.

Eventually, the encumbering weariness took her to the dark realm of dreams.

* * *

They packed up a little bit before daybreak to make it the rest of the way to their destination. There was no breakfast to be had other than rations and those were eaten as they walked. Not the best tasting, but they're chock full of nutrients.

It was a few hours before they reached a rocky embankment. The scent of saltwater was strong the closer they walked. Waiting near the shore was a small rickety row boat just large enough to hold six people. It was a tight fit, but the rower, Tazuna and Team 7 managed.

Fog seemed to hide just about everything as the small wooden boat quietly drifted across the surface of the sea. Because they were trying to illegally sneak into the country, they were all to remain silent. After two solid hours of sitting in the rowboat, they had finally made it onto dry land where Kamiko began kissing the ground...

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" shouted Kakashi as a massive broadsword whizzed over their heads, embedding itself in a tree. It seemed there was an ambush waiting for them. Like someone knew they were coming to this exact spot.

When Kamiko looked back to the tree to see a seven(approximately) foot tall man perfectly balanced on the hilt of the massive butcher sword that he had thrown. A muscular man with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He's wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. The missing nin wore baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

Curious, Sakura asked, "W-who is that?!"

Frowning as he drew a kunai, Kakashi replied, "That's Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist. A rogue ninja who fled after failing to assassinate the Mizukage. His bingo book entry said that when he graduated the genin exam, he slaughtered his entire class. This man is nothing like those two from before."

"Impressive that you know who I am," smirked the man behind a cloth mask, standing on the sword. "Nothing seems to get past you, Kakashi of the Sharingan. It's no wonder the Demon Brothers failed to report back to me."

"Sharingan? What's that?"

The redheaded girl's question was answered by her black haired teammate, "The sharingan is an incredibly rare kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan. And here I thought you were intelligent."

"Shut up Sasuke. It's not like I went to the academy," growled Kamiko as she drew her nodachi. "Stay back, Kashi. I've got this. You know, I've been dying for a real challenge. This is the perfect time for me to show you how strong I really am."

"Foolish child. You do not know who you're dealing with," scoffed the broad shouldered ninja.

Immediately following the taunt, three water clones formed from the heavy mist. Kamiko slashed through the first two but was forced to backflip to dodge a shot at her chest. She sent a small bolt of electricity at the last clone, using the reach of her nodachi as a conductor. The paralyzing jutsu game her just enough of an opening to split the fake in half.

With the threat of the water clones gone, Kamiko leapt forward to engage the real rogue ninja, brandishing her sword madly. Their blades met in a shower of sparks. Zabuza went for a diagonal slash, but Kamiko blocked. She'd had to use both hands to block; one on the handle and the other on the flat of the blade. But as strong as she was, the man was stronger still. He had given a great shove that caused her to stagger and take a step back to avoid a swift thrust.

Unlike months ago against Kakashi, Kamiko was struggling to keep up with Demon of the Hidden Mist. While her sensei had not been much of a challenge in their occasional spar, Zabuza was dominating the sword fight.

From the audience's perspective, that is to say, Team 7 minus Kamiko but including the elderly bridge builder, they could barely keep up with the movement of each swordsman. Their ears however, caught each clash, tink and screech of their teammate's nodachi against the enemy's zanbato.

"Is this really Kamiko?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke snorted, "She's such a loser. She's probably getting her ass kicked."

Kakashi had his sharingan active, attentively observing the fight. Though he didn't tear his gaze away from the combatants, he said, "I forget the two of you weren't awake for much of the genin test, or at least in the area where I fought that devil. Kamiko is a force to be reckoned with. She might be a genin, but she's holding her own against an A-rank missing nin who was once a jonin of Kirigakure. She's certainly something-"

Suddenly, the group heard a loud girly scream. All of the bystanders turned to see to the scarlet haired kunoichi unable to move due to the Damascus steel blade holding the limb in place. With her foot pinned to the ground by her own tanto, Kamiko had no time to dodge the impending decapitation heading towards her neck. Though it was a dirty trick, the redhead rammed her fist skyward, uppercutting the enemy in the crotch with as much force as she could muster.

"You little fucking cunt!" screamed Zabuza as he buckled from the agony. "I'll ruin you and burn your corpse!" As the enemy yelled this declaration, he stabbed a kunai between the teen's stomach and womb ten times, once in the heart and twice in the lungs before a Raikiri forced the missing nin to retreat to prevent being assassinated.

Narrowing his eyes, Zabuza growled, "When you've hovered between life and death so many times that it doesn't faze you, you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly that your profile has been entered into my bingo book, then you may have earned the title ninja. When I was your age, my hands were already soaked with blood. You whelp, were not ready."

Gasping, Kamiko reached a hand towards her sensei, "Help...me 'Kashi..." Then her head slumped down into the wet grassy ground, losing consciousness.

' _Shit,'_ swore Kakashi under his breath. He should have intervened sooner.

With no time to fool around, the missing nin retreated to the lake. Kakashi followed. While he hated to see his sensei's son dying, his priority was the mission. It crushed his heart to go back on his own words he had said to his three precious genin when they had passed the bell test. His soul died a little to be a hypocrite but this was an extremely dangerous mission that was too important to abandon.

He barked at the other two genin to try and slow the bleeding but both were frozen with fear. Sasuke a shaking while Sakura was on the verge of passing out.

Meanwhile, Zabuza wove his hands in a complex series, hoping to end it once and for all. However, before either jonin could unleash the devastating suiton technique, the Kiri Swordsman became victim to receiving two needles to the neck. The giant of a man crumpled and fell face first onto the dew sprinkled grass.

A few feet away, Kamiko lay unmoving. Was the unpredictable genin...dead?

* * *

 **A/N: Is this the end? Am I going to leave you fucks like this? Maybe. Give me reviews and I might give you the stunning conclusion to the Zabuza saga!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Welcome to once again, another installment of Megami no Kitsune. Alright you silly thots, time to see our heroine's fate!**

 **PS: I decided to rename our MC because I read some other fabrics that used the name and I feel like it's more fitting. I'll be going back and editing the previous chapters. I might even add new content to old chapters, so keep an eye out for those updates!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter V**_

Dawn hadn't yet broken beyond the horizon beyond the misty waves when Kamiko had awoken. "Uwaah! Where am I?" Squeaked a groggy voice following an exasperated yawn. Peering out the window only yielded a view of ground level clouds. Sitting up in her bedroll, she found that Sasuke and Sakura were still fast asleep. It seemed that the scare yesterday had drained them.

Kakashi was propped up by a multitude of pillows like some sort of beloved but ailing shogunate. He opened his one visible eye as he snickered behind that muffling mask of his as he proceeded to say, "You ought to get a good look at yourself kid. Ha, you could almost pass as a very pretty youkai or a noble princess. Ha, that's a good one. But really, you could pass as a younger clone of your mom!"

Growling, the slightly feminine sounding ninja asked angrily, "Why the hell are you calling me 'Princess' and 'youkai'? You know I'm human and that I definitely have a name. My name is Kamiko Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the next Hokage, dattebane! So you should damn well use it when talking to me!"

"Just...look in the mirror over there and tell me what you see, " ordered the one eyed instructor as he sat up in his own bed. It was obvious that he wasn't in the mood for bullshit.

Groaning insubordinately, Kamiko slid from the futon on the floor and wobbled unceremoniously over to the full size mirror hanging on the bathroom door and quite naked. For some reason, she seemed to have gone up several bust sizes and had grown a few feet, now on par with her sensei's height. But the youkai comment finally made sense now. Her human ears were gone. Instead, a pair of visibly fluffy fox ears sat atop her head. Behind her nubile form was a voluminous and extremely fluffy tail with a silky reddish orange fur coat gleamed with a healthy sheen. Nine snow white diamond markings circled the circumference of the whisker markings on her cheeks were even more pronounced. She had become an otherworldly girl, much like a kitsune like the folklore stories Junko had read to her as a little girl.

"Oh...I guess the jig is up," she laughed awkwardly. "Surprise, I'm a fox girl...hehe?"

"Girls don't prank people," said Kakashi in a bored tone.

Smirking, Kamiko fired back, "Oh yeah? Well I'm always a prankster. Keep up your lazy attitude and you'll find yourself covered in paint. You forget who I am. I am a fox after all~" Her tail was swishing excitedly behind her.

Thinking it was probably an illusion, the copycat ninja leaned forward to pinch at the 'ears' on top of his student's head. Instead of his fingers passing through the illusion, his digits met soft fur that moved under his touch. "OW! What the hell Kakashi?!" yelped Kamiko, her fur standing on end. "That fucking hurt!"

Shaking his head, Kakashi said, "Sorry, sorry. I thought you were just playing a prank on me with an elaborate jutsu just like that one you used to blind my sharingan during the genin exam." While outwardly he was stoic, the silver haired jounin was internally screaming. Something had happened with the seal and it had been on his watch. How was he going to explain to his colleagues and superiors that the fox was spreading more influence over the girl in such a short amount of time?

Rubbing her ear irritatedly, "Well that hurt you dickhead. They're pretty damn real and well connected. I'd appreciate you refraining from touching them. What do you have to say for your assholishness?"

"Cover yourself. A lady shouldn't be showing her breasts and naughty bits to just anyone." Kakashi sounded far too pleased with saying those words.

Kamiko looked down to see that she was indeed bare as the day she was born. The kunoichi blushed and gave a pout. "P-pervert!" Swiftly, she rummaged in her pack to find form fitting underclothes and then a shirt and shorts. Unwittingly, she had grabbed a pair of lace panties had made its way into her bag. Did she even own a pair like this? She slipped them on regardless that they rode a little low due to her tail. "W-why didn't you say anything earlier?!"

The masked nin shrugged, blaming his love of smut on 'forgetting' to tell her she was nude. She huffed some more and pulled on a black tank top and equally dark leggings. Returning to Kakashi and Sasuke, the kunoichi took a seat in a circle around their teacher. Sakura too joined them. What, is this storytime now? Both teammates had glanced oddly at Kamiko and had wanted to ask about her new physical additions but Kakashi had cleared his throat. It was time to listen.

"I think Zabuza is still alive..."

Frowning, the kitsune asked, "How? We all saw that hunter nin from the mist take him out! Even if we lost the chance to take the glory ourselves, there's no way he could still be alive!" ' _And I wish I could pay him back for stabbing me like twenty times'_ , thought the vixen.

"Do you remember what weapon was used to ' kill' him? Think back, what was it?" Said Kakashi in a lazy drone.

Kamiko grumbled. She had been dying. How the hell would she have known what happened after losing consciousness?

Much to the vixen's dismay, Sakura answered this time, "Yeah, he used senbon needles. Two in the neck to be exact. I haven't extensively studied anatomy, but I'm pretty sure there's a pressure point near the main artery there."

"With this information, I've got it figured out. That kid was really saving Zabuza from death," came Sasuke's smug theory. "He was the enemy's accomplice all along."

Nodding slowly, the white haired jounin replied, "Yeah, that about sums it up. Hunter ninja are taught to know everything about the human body. Paired up with pinpoint accuracy, it would be a trivial matter to put someone in a death-like state. I'd estimate the chances of our enemy coming back to attempt to assassinate our client. He must be getting paid well after our last fight. We have about seven days minimum before he'll be up to make another attempt."

Kamiko had almost interjected the fact that she had indeed gone toe to toe with one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist on her own. But her brain rationed that her gloating would be short lived since she had essentially died to said missing nin. If it wasn't for Kyu-sama, she would be pushing daisies for lack of a better term.

"Damn, we need to protect the bridge builder! Let's stop sitting in bed and get over there," squealed Sakura as she strapped her shuriken pouch to her right leg.

Shaking his head, the legacy of the White Fang remarked, "Don't be so hasty to get into a fight with a tough opponent like Zabuza. Besides, like I said earlier, it should take about a week for him to fully recuperate from such a state. I myself need to rest from overusing my Sharingan. Later...we'll do some training. We will all need to be at the top of our game for an A-Ranked missing nin. I don't know much about his accomplice, but I imagine he's strong in his own right."

With a thoughtful hum, Sakura asked, "Do you think it's possible to call for reinforcements in order to protect Tazuna? I mean, this should be at least a B-rank so maybe we could somehow get word to the Hokage in order to get a few chunk or maybe a jounin."

"Naturally, that would be the ideal course of action. But without a ninja courier or a messenger hawk, getting help is easier said than done," Kakashi replied. "But even if I sent one of you back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, there's a high chance you could be intercepted. I can't take that risk."

Smacking her sensei upside the head, Kamiko said, "You're an idiot! I know you're a lazy pervert, but you honestly can't be that retarded. Use your bloody summons to send a message!"

Sasuke sneered, "And how would you know that, idiot? Summoning contracts are incredibly rare. Nine out of ten shinobi have never even seen one.""

"Because ya bastard," Kamiko said as she crossed her arms under her breasts, "he once used the summoning technique in front of me. Well, not that he knew that at the time. 'Kashi brought out a few of his dogs in order to try and track me. Plus a few ANBU squads also trying to sniff me out. Not that any of them ever found me."

Squishing a furrowed brow, Sakura asked, "Why was he trying to find you? Did you pull a prank on him when you were younger?"

With a shrug, the redhead replied, "Eh, not an important story right now. My point is, that this lazy fuck nugget should have thought of this earlier. So get off your ass and get us some back up!" To enforce her 'suggestion she gave the silver haired sensei a smack upside the head.

"Jeez, fine! Would you stop hitting me?" Kamiko shook her head. He rolled his one good eye and finished, "She's right, I have a contract with the ninja dogs I honestly forgot about it. Lemme write a letter to ask for reinforcements."

"About time," hissed the the reborn kyuubi, her tail flicking agitatedly.

Changing from leaning on the mass of pillows to kneeling on the futon, he brought a thumb to his mouth. He bit down, drawing blood. The jounin sensei ran through several hand seals before slamming his palm . "Yo, Pakkun."

From the smoke, a small, pug-like dog with brown fur and a dark brown snout and ears popped into existence. Lifting one of its front paws, the pug said in gruff voice, "Long time no see. Been awhile since you've summoned me, Aika and the boys."

Sakura was speechless, ' _He can talk?!'_

Scratching his chin, Kakashi replied, "Ehehe, I haven't been taking on A and B rank missions since I became a jounin sensei. You see these three here, they're my cute little genin, Pinky here is Sakura, the emo one is Sasuke and the foxy one is Kamiko. Together under me, we are Team 7."

Peering up at the red haired girl, Pakkun gave a grunt. He sniffed a few times before saying. "I see. That's her huh?" He turned back to Kakashi and asked, "We're not in the village which means you need me for something."

Holding the scroll containing the letter, the weary ninja said to the ninken, "This is an important missive addressed to Lord Hokage asking for reinforcements and what has happened so far on the mission. I need you to deliver this as soon as possible. Can you do that for me, friend?"

"Sure can do, boss." With a one paw salute, the miniature pug disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

After a meager breakfast (don't blame the poor village), the young shinobi set off in pairs to train. Kakashi went about to teach Sasuke himself which left Sakura and Kamiko to train by themselves. Talk about a helpful teacher (not!).

Noticing everything was slightly different than when she was a regular human, Kamiko realized she would have to alter her fighting techniques to match her slightly taller and more flexible body. After a short explanation of her teammates discovery, Sakura agreed to help her practice by setting up log targets and spar with her after a warm up jog.

As she missed a punch, Kamiko whined childishly, "This is so messed up! I'm taller than I used to be and my reach is further than it used to be! Now I gotta relearn everything. Fuck!"

"Don't give up Naru-chan," cheered Sakura sadly. She actually felt bad her teammate had lost quite a bit of her former strength and muscle memory due to her transformation. The least she could do is give a little assistance.

During the intense training session, Kamiko discovered there were a few things new about her physical prowess. Dodging had become easier with her increased flexibility, allowing greater ease to dance around the battlefield and weaving in and around the environment.

The pink haired kunoichi might not be physically strong, but her aim was nearly perfect. When one of the shuriken had reached its' intended mark, Sakura squealed.

"It's nothing Sakura," murmured Kamiko as she unceremoniously ripped out the throwing star from her shoulder. "No pain, no gain."

As she inspected the shallow wound, the vixen found that iron shavings were being expelled from the clean slice and flesh knitted itself together. "See, good as new."

"Phew, I was worried I actually hurt you," huffed the little banshee. "Don't scare me like that!"

Grinning as she fell into a defensive stance, Kamiko ordered, "Try to strike me this time. We're going to spar for the next four hours!"

Sakura gulped. Oh Kami, what had she gotten herself into?!

* * *

Returning well after dark, Kamiko took the first shower after Kakashi whom had returned an hour prior to herself. And she hadn't stopped to chat, lest anyone realize she reeked of booze and sweat (what? She likes to drink!). Washing herself had become a hassle with her furry limbs. Fur she discovered, was quite heavy when wet. And it took twice as much shampoo and conditioner to clean that tail.

After she finished up and dried off (of course making herself decent) she reported to the sitting room. Kamiko was now sprawled across the span of the couch while both Sakura and Tsunami were attempting to tame the fur on her gloriously fluffy tail and her curtain of scarlet tresses.

Buzzing from a little timer, the small device alerted the room's occupants of something. "Ah! That's dinner. One of you please set the table. Plates and cutlery is in the cabinet. It's not much, but I hope it's good enough."

"This looks great!" chirped the vixen mentally. They dug in after a quick prayer. Throughout the meal, they chatted about various ninja things and about the mission.

Kamiko laughed, surprising her teammates. To her, it was as if nothing had happened. She was still their goofy comrade. Almost like she was a normal human being. The fact that she was the Ninetails container seemed to remain wreathed in shadows.

"Are...you okay, Kamiko?" asked Sakura delicately.

Smiling fondly, the young girl replied, "Sorry, I'm fine. I just had an insight about myself I greatly appreciate." While Sasuke scowled and Sakura smiled, not pushing the topic, the vixen herself surveyed the room out of sheer boredom.

Standing near the entrance to the sitting room, Inari shouted, "Why are you all trying so hard? You're all just going to die! So just give up already!"

Gently setting her chopsticks down on her plate, Kamiko pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. She then promptly smacked the kid upside the head and growled, "Stop being such a fucking coward you little shit. You have no right to mope around and criticize those who came to help this backwater port. You whine about how bad your life is and seem to think it's hopeless. You don't know what it means to suffer! You have your family, food to eat and a goddamn roof over your head. Quit pissing yourself every time something doesn't go your way and grow a pair!" Having said what needed to be spoken, Kamiko then left the kitchen in favor of training to let off some steam.

"That was a little harsh," began Tsunami as she looked between her son, her father and each of the ninja minus the foxy girl.

Putting his dishes into the sink, the jounin said, "I'll go talk to him. However, let my student cool off. She's not always good at expressing herself the right way. She used to be really unstable, so this is actually great progress for her. She hasn't even threatened to dismember the kid."

As soon as the masked jounin stepped onto the balcony overlooking the sea, Inari said saltily, "Shouldn't you be punishing that girl for yelling at me? I'm just a brat after all. I don't know any better."

Shaking his head, Kakashi replied, "I don't agree with how she handled it, but Kamiko isn't wrong. She knows what it's like to be unable to control the things around her. Believe it or not, she has had a worse childhood than you, Inari. By a long shot, it doesn't even compare. Your mother told me about what happened to your father. She never knew her parents at all. She doesn't know what a mother or father's love feels like. Both of them died the same night Kamiko was born. At age four, she was kicked out of the orphanage for a reason she couldn't have a single clue. And it was for this reason she was targeted to be chased, beaten, clubbed and attempted murder. Most shops wouldn't sell her anything or sell something five or ten times the market price. Or if it was something at regular price, it was expired. And that's as far as I know about her childhood. The rest is a mystery to even me. Regardless, most kids at that age would be crying or dead. But she simply got sick of crying. Kamiko is the epitome―the quintessential poster child of child abuse and suffering. What have you been through? You had a roof, three meals a day and all you lost is your dad. I lost mine too, but it didn't stop me. It's not a thing to be proud of. It's up to you to decide whether to mope in a ditch or do something about it."

The one eyed ninja's words left Inari gaping when he left.

* * *

Concentrating hard, Kamiko sat in the middle of a small grassy spot behind the bridge builder's house. She had told the small family and her teammates not to bother her for a few hours.

Only a few minutes had passed before reality warped away and the backyard had melded into her mindscape. Except this time, it was not the playful meadow. The endless blue sky that once reigned above had now turned to a wooden ceiling as did the walls and floor.

Walking in a little further, she whispered, "Kyu-chan?'

A deep feminine voice rumbled in her head, ' **Still here little one. I had to rest after healing your extensive wounds. You idiotic, reckless kit** ," she finished in an exasperated tone.

"Ehehe, you know me kaa-chan," Kamiko replied sheepishly. "I like to train hard to surpass people's expectations. You know I was really worried when I couldn't contact you yesterday."

" **Kamiko..."**

Her ear twitched. The young kunoichi knew that tone. It was that 'sit your ass down and listen or so help me I'll pluck your eyes out' voice.

Sitting up attentively, the red head peered up at the nine tailed fox's lack of a humanoid face, she canted her head to the right a little bit and asked, "Yes, Kaa-sama?"

A low sigh exhaled from the kitsune's lips, silence passing minutes after. The tension could be cut by a dull butter knife. Finally, Kyushira said, " **I'm just going to be blunt about this sweetie. In order to save your life, I was forced to merge my chakra with yours in its entirety."**

"W-what are you saying, kaa-chan?" she sniffed.

With a sad smile, the demon fox answered, " **I'm saying that I permanently made you my real daughter, and the heir to my legacy. You Kamiko, are the next Nine Tailed Demon fox given a form born of flesh and blood. Come child."**

Not missing a single beat, the redhead embraced Kyushira, arms around the giant fox's neck and clinging with no abandon.

Shaking her head, the avatar of the demon fox replied, " **I don't know how long my spirit has left. My time is short. I am withering away and soon, all I am will be you. My memories, my emotions and my heart is yours. Forge a new destiny and show the world your worth..."** Her voice halted, the simulated breathing becoming faint. Labored, audible breaths heaved. The fading woman said after a time of holding her proclaimed daughter, " **I have a request to make of you."**

Kamiko whimpered, her normal lilting voice trembling with her lips, "What do you ask of me, Kaa-sama?"

" **My siblings. As far as I know, they're still alive, in a sense. Some are free and others are trapped within a host like I was in you, your mother and your grandmother. I have a feeling they are in danger. From what, I do not know."** She paused again, coughing. As she did so, the once lustrous reddish orange fur slowly began to turn silver. " **You must seek out other Jinchuuriki. All of you must band together to survive. And they can teach you what I was not able to. In turn, you must persuade each pair to merge together. It is the only way to prevent being sealed into a human sacrifice. This is the height of my research and you must save them. I cannot guarantee they will be cooperative, neither their hosts. I love you and be careful my beautiful kit..."**

"Of course Kaa-sama. I shall do anything you ask. You've been more of a mother to me than anyone I've ever known." It wasn't long after she had spoken that, Kyushira's presence faded. All that remained with the chakra.

When she woke from her meditation, Kamiko found that her cheeks were wet. Actually, drenched. She needed to talk to someone. It was her secret now, but she needed someone to help her through this loss. She needed Kakashi.

* * *

Today, it was Sakura's turn again to watch the bridge builder and his colleagues. Since she had perfect chakra control, walking up a tree without her hands had been a cinch. Kamiko had gone off to do some more of her own training while Kakashi was still recovering. This left her and the dark haired Uchiha to protect the workers in case any ninja or thug's attempt to attack the workers.

However, it was woefully uneventful. In the morning, she had gone shopping at the market with Tsunami and found how much harm Gato's tyranny had wrought on the small fishing village. There was scarce vegetables and fewer bags of rice for sale. And for all that was, the prices had skyrocketed to disgusting levels.

And once she had returned, this had caused the young kunoichi to reflect. Not only on how well she had it in Konoha, but also by her inability to do much to end such gutting to not only the people's economy but also to their will to live. It had made her wish so dearly to free them from this horror. And because this feeling of worthlessness, she knew she needed to change.

The first step had been admittance. But the next step would be harder: finding someone to support her and help her get stronger. So that she could have a purpose and make a difference in people's lives. Even if she wasn't much of a fighter, she wanted to do something to help missions be completed with the utmost efficiency.

"Sasuke, can I talk to you?" the pinkette said softly as she approached the other genin as they kept a careful eye on the environment.

Noticing that his number one fan hadn't used an honorary suffix when addressing him, he shrugged and said, "I'll bite. What is it?"

Holding her hands to her chest, Sakura said, "I need to tell you something important and I need to do this because if I don't, I never will. Yes there is a fanclub of all your admirers in Konoha, but they're just wishful. Sasuke, I love you."

"I can't-"

Holding a hand to interrupt, Sakura said, "Shush. Let me finish. When I first started the academy, it was because my mother is on the civilian council. It was only because of her connections did I really get admitted. But I know that even just book smarts won't keep me alive now that I'm a genin. When Kamiko said on that day when we got sorted into teams, i should have listened. But I didn't and I regret that. But I've had an epiphany.

"I was thinking back to when Kakashi had us take his genin exam even though there were three of us and only 2 bells. Ninja always perform a mission in a squad of three or more. That got me figuring something out about us rookies." She paused to catch her breath before saying, "Kurenai's team consists of Kiba, Shino and Hinata. They all have family jutsu that makes them great at tracking enemies. Then you've got Asuma's team; Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. That pineapple head is really smart and Ino as much as I hate her, has a unique clan jutsu that would be excellent for gathering intelligence. But what does that leave us?

"Kakashi-sensei is a former anbu black ops captain and is well known for his sharingan, kenjutsu and large repertoire of techniques. But we don't really have a classification," Sakura said matter of factly. "You are pretty good at both close combat and long range attack. Kamiko used to be quite a brawler, then she got a bit of puberty. Now she's really fast, flexible and whatever else we don't know yet. You two would make an excellent assault or assassination team. But what about me?"

She shook her head and sighed, "I should have taken training more seriously. I'm pretty useless. At best, I can use the academy jutsus, throw shuriken and kunai. Even though I've got great chakra control, I kinda suck at making genjutsu. So that got me thinking: what can I, Sakura, do to make myself useful? I started thinking about all the strong kunoichi out there and thought of Tsunade, the Slug Princess. Connecting those dots, I realized, hey, I could totally become a medic nin. So, what do you think?"

The last Uchiha was honestly shocked at the pinkette's revelation and confession. He gave a small smile and said, "Well then. I'm kinda glad you had this breakthrough. When we get back to Konoha, we can see about asking the hokage to get you into that program and maybe apprentice at the hospital."

Sakura squealed and gave the dark haired boy a spine crushing hug, she said, "Oh thank you Sasuke! I didn't know how you'd react. I thought you were going to get me kicked off the team!"

Said shinobi grunted, enduring the human contact he was none too fond of. "Hn."

* * *

Mossy rocks, mossy dirt and small little plants were soft fodder beneath Kamiko's bare feet as she unconsciously walked into a small grove of bamboo and deciduous trees. Her thoughts were currently not of this realm

Kamiko realized that it was more than just the nine tails chakra in its entirety that she had inherited from her adopted mother. Every time she closed her eyes, the redhead would get a glimpse of something. Another life. Emotions. Memories.

People, places, property. She felt them but they were foreign. Siblings, a father. A close sister who might have been more. Separation, betrayal. belonged to her, yet they weren't hers. She did not experience them, but she recalled them with such vivacity.

Her identity was in a crisis.

"Do you come here often, miss?" came a soft, effeminate voice. The question posed was more curiosity than an accusation.

Having been so lost in her thoughts, Kamiko had actually jumped a little bit. Her vulpine ears stood straight up and her tail fur flared. Leaping to her feet, the vixen huffed and said, "Jackass! I was thinking! It's rude to bother people when they're deep in thought."

Chuckling a little, the voice's owner replied, "You seemed so peaceful, leaning against that tree, like you've not a thing to care for in the world. Although, this is not the safest place to be dozing off, even if you know this area well. Why, if I was an enemy, I could have slit your throat while you slept."

"OH YEAH?!" growled Kamiko, her fingernail turning to claws. As she looked over the person whom had startled her, the Nidaime Kyuubi noticed they were not quite female. Their slender figure, ivory pale skin, long lashes framing warm tawny irises and sleek, long coal black locks were rather distracting and made it easy to pass as a woman. However, the shoulders were too wide and the voice while feminine, there was a slight masculine undertone. And then there was the scent that was most certainly not female. She concluded it was a man who was dressing as a woman for one reason or another.

Holding his hands in front of his body in a placating manner, the overly effeminate boy said, "Whoa now, miss. I'm not looking to fight or even harm you. I was merely saying you shouldn't let your guard down here since there are no shinobi native to Nami no Kuni."

"Hmmph," hissed Kamiko, letting her claws return to being actual nails. But she didn't let her guard drop. "So what are you doing here? Come to stare and make fun of the weird fox eared girl?"

Shaking his head, the dark haired pretty boy replied, "Oh certainly not. It's just that I wasn't expecting someone to be here this morning. You see, my friend injured himself doing some physical work and further hurt himself doing a little hunting. So I am collecting herbs that I can grind up and make a medicine to speed up his recovery."

Her slitted violet eyes narrowed. The story was normal. Too normal. Something felt off."You haven't introduced yourself. You startled me, so it's natural that you tell me your name before I give you mine."

Setting the basket down, the crossdressing boy took a seat on the soft turf. As the person did so, she was able to get a slightly better look at them. He had his long hair loosely, and wore a pink, sleeveless kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls, that went to his ankles. Around his waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and he wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps. He also wore a dark-coloured choker around his neck. "My apologies, I did not intend to be rude. You may call me Yuuki."

Tilting her head, the vixen said, "Strange name for a boy. Mine is Kamiko."

At this, the disguised person stiffened, a cringe unable to be stifled. After a few moments, they said, "I don't know how you figured it out that I'm not all female, but I'm not a man."

"Then why do you smell like a man wearing women's perfume?" Kamiko asked as she rubbed her sensitive nose. "If you were a woman-"

Slamming the ground with fists, Yuuki snarled, "DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE! Whatever you may think, I am not a man!" The dark haired human calmed a little but held a bit of a huff on their face. "Sorry, this is just a sensitive topic for me to talk about. But you see, I was born with the wrong body. Designated male at birth, but I've always been a girl up here." The person claiming to be a woman tapped their forehead. "So please, refer to me as a woman. She/her are my pronouns. I've always been a girl. Unfortunately, I've had terrible luck finding a doctor with the expertise to help me transition. It doesn't help since my fa-uncle and I are always on the move. We rarely stay longer than a week in towns and villages."

Steepling the tips of her fingers, Kamiko spoke, "So let me get this straight: you were born male, but your mind is female?" At Yuki's nod, she continued, "And you're saying that you need an especially skilled doctor to help you become more female otherwise the extent of what you can do is wear women's clothes, keeping your hair long and wearing makeup?"

"That's surprisingly really accurate of my situation," the dark haired woman replied. "You seem really intelligent for someone your age."

With a sad smile, Kamiko replied, "That's because I wasn't able to have much of a childhood when I was younger. Yanno, I grew up without parents because they died the day I was born. When I turned four, I was cast out of the orphanage and lived on the streets for awhile. No one wanted me. That is until I was taken in by Madam Mitsune, the owner of the brothel in my village. When I was six, I accidentally killed a man trying to choke one of the women who I worked with. So I was forced to grow up faster than I should have. It's only been recently that I've found a few people I've been able to open up to. I guess that makes you another of those few people I don't hate."

"When a person has something important or someone they cherish they want to protect.. that's when they can become truly strong," Yuuki said, a genuine smile filling her girly face.

Drawing her nodachi from the seal she had once placed in between her breasts, Kamiko growled, "I knew you smelled strange. Your perfume almost covered it, but I know that smell. It's disgustingly familiar. You have that bastard's scent on you. The one who nearly killed me: Zabuza Momochi. You're working with him!"

Taken back by the sudden but true accusation, Yuuki replied, "Oh, so you're that girl who was bleeding out. I am sorry. I had not the time to look. I was doing my duty to keep my master alive. I do not like to kill, and I am glad you survived."

Gripping the hilt of her nodachi so tightly that her knuckles turned white, Naruko said, "How can you say that?! We're enemies, 'ttebane! You an' I should be fighting right now. Plus I need to kick your ass to get back at Zabuza for almost killing me!"

"If possible, I don't want to have to kill you. Nor do I want you to have to kill me. However, if you come at me. I will kill my heart with a blade and become a true shinobi," Yuki said sadly. "I'd rather not fight at all if we can avoid this. I despise killing and I would only do it if it was the last resort."

Not really backing down, Kamiko scowled, "How can I trust you? You're working with that heartless bastard. If you really don't wanna hurt me, then why you around that fucker?"

Wincing a little at the savage words the fox eared kunoichi said, Yuuki sighed, "Because, he gave me a purpose. Without Zabuza-sama, I don't think I would still be alive. Not with the way this world operates."

"Tell me about it then. Why you turned out this way," said Naruko as she sat cross legged across from the Ice-user. "If your story sates my curiosity, I'll consider letting you go. You have ten minutes. So no dumb convoluted flashback cliche bullshit."

"My father and mother were simple farmers, and they lived a peaceful life. They loved each other, and were kind to me. But that was not to last. You see, my mother was a wielder of a kekkei genkai: Ice Release. She hid this fact from her husband, hoping that the love and peace that was shared in their small family would last forever. One day, I discovered the ability to manipulate water. Amazed by this, I foolishly showed this to my mother, who was horrified by what she saw. She harshly scolded and slapped me for displaying my ability, though she tearfully apologised to me immediately what we hadn't known, was that my bastard of a father had seen everything from the shadows."

"What happened?" Kamiko interrupted quietly.

Yuuki swallowed. "When my father discovered that his wife and I possessed a kekkei genkai, he assembled a small mob of villagers. With tears flowing down his eyes, he killed his wife. He then attempted to kill me. But before he could, I used my Hyoton to create several large ice spikes to kill his father and the rest of the mob. I fled soon after.

"Orphaned, beaten and broken. I became a child who was wanted by no one and was forced to take to the cold streets. Just to survive, I was forced to rummage through trash bins for scraps of food, even sometimes having to fight off the wild dogs that roamed the streets." The In time, he was confronted by Zabuza Momochi, a man who had "the same eyes" as him. Zabuza later asked me to become his "weapon," which meant to become a dedicated shinobi for Zabuza. I readily accepted this role, due to the purpose it gave me, and I began to devote my life to becoming the ultimate tool for Zabuza to use. That is why I stay with Zabuza-sama." She looked up at the sky and gasped."Dammit, I have tarried here for too long. I must go now. Before anyone gets suspicious."

Shaking her head, the demoness replied, "I understand. We will meet on the battlefield when Zabuza has recovered from his near death state. Though I wish this could have been avoided, it will commence. Hopefully, we will not have to clash blades. Otherwise, I may just have to tear you asunder."

Grasping the other woman into a hug, Yuuki replied, "And I hope for the same thing. I still wish we could become friends but I know that is not meant to be. I wish you luck." With that being said, the Hyoton wielder vanished in a swirl of mist, leaving Kamiko alone in the clearing.

-Megami no Kitsune-

It was late when Kamiko came in. And when she did, she passed the dinner table. Not even a second glance at the remnants of dinner and strode to the guest bedroom. It had not gone unnoticed that she reeked of alcohol, sweat and something else those in the room couldn't quite pinpoint.

When their teammate had disappeared upstairs, Sakura finally asked, "Hey Kakashi, Sasuke, have either of you noticed how different Kamiko has been acting over the last few days? In fact, I noticed this started the day after she woke up from recovering her injuries. She's not nearly as obnoxious or insane."

"Now that you mention it," Sasuke said, "it is kind of peculiar. She's mellow even. Kamiko hasn't even so much called me an emo shitlord, a bastard or a douche. It's kinda scary even."

Kakashi however, recognized those symptoms. He had seen it before in others and in himself time to time. After Rin. After Obito. The Yondaime; the list went on. "She is grieving. Terribly so. My cute genin, can I entrust you two with an SS-Rank Village secret?"

The hint was easily noticed. Tazuna mumbled and said that he was going to go tuck in his grandson and chop some more firewood. Tsunami said she had work in the kitchen to finish.

Curious Sakura asked, "What is it sensei? What's so top secret that you sent the host family out of the room to tell us?"

The Uchiha grunted, "You can trust us."

Was it okay to tell them? His sensei always told him teamwork made the dreamwork. And to do that, there could be no secret between teammates. He exhaled a sigh and said, "I'm really trusting that you won't spread this to the rest of the rookie genin. This sort of information could put your teammate in serious danger."

Sasuke spoke up even more. "If need be, we can take seals that restrict us from speaking about it to those not in the know." Sakura nodded in agreement.

It was with that oath that made the silver haired ninja's tongue loosen. "Very well, I will hold you two to that. Now, Kamiko has always been an enigma to me and many others. Even to Lord Hokage. Her thought process seems to have always been so jumbled and unpredictable," Kakashi began. "You may have noticed the way some people in the village look at Kamiko."

"Like as though she had the plague," supplied the dark haired genin. "I've noticed. She may be a bit mad, but her pranks shouldn't warrant that kind of attention everywhere she goes. Even before I knew who she was, I saw the glares she was given. Even banned from stores. Kakashi, what's going on with her? Why do the people of Konoha treat her like that?"

Nodding, the Copycat nin replied, "Good, you've been observant. The reason for that lies thirteen years ago. When the Kyuubi attacked and destroyed a great part of the village. The Fourth Hokage fought and battled the Nine Tailed fox with the help of his Toads. Being a tailed beast, he couldn't kill it. So he sacrificed his life with a forbidden technique to seal the fox into Kamiko the day she was born. She was orphaned, her parents having died in the attack. That is why those who remember the tragedy look at her with such animosity and hatred."

"How is this relevant to Kamiko's behavior, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, still confused. "I understand that she was made a pariah, but how is this connected.

"From what I've managed to coax from her, Kamiko was very close to her tenant. The reason she's taken on even more physical attributes like a fox is because she was essentially the Kyuubi's daughter. To the point where she considered the fox akin to a mother to her. When she sustained damage that might have led to her death, she merged with her adopted mother. She **is** the nine tailed fox now."

Both Sasuke and Sakura were speechless. Finally Sasuke said, "So that's why she has fox ears and a tail now. This is a lot to take in."

"Now that you two know her most dangerous secret, I urge you to keep this under wraps. This information supersedes the importance of even the Uchiha massacre. Even with restriction seals, there are ways around it. If you're ever captured, you must not spill even a drop of this information," said the last Hatake. "Do not make her feel different. The last thing we need is for her to feel unwelcome. Could you imagine if she went rogue?"

"What if she chooses to go public with the fact she's the Kyuubi? Won't that render the seals useless?" asked Sakura.

Sighing, Kakashi said, "You have a good point. There's nothing I can do to stop her if she does announce that she is the new Kyuubi. While I would understand it's a pride thing, such an announcement would have many drawbacks. Can you tell me some?"

With a hum, Sakura said, "Well from what little we were taught beyond the basics of tailed beasts in the academy, is that they were once used to wage war. Now they're all sealed into a jinchuuriki..." She paused as her eyes widened. "Oh no! If people from other villages got their hands on Kamiko, they'd try to use her as a weapon against us and probably many other countries."

How troublesome. The two members of team seven nodded and waited their turn to get the restriction seal applied.

* * *

Next morning, the Nidaime Kyuubi had sleepily crawled out of bed and dressed before going downstairs."Where is everyone?" yawned Kamiko as she entered the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning Miko-chan. They told me to let you sleep in since you came in so late from your training," answered Tsunami as she scraped some eggs onto a plate for the kunoichi. Said girl happily wolfed down her breakfast

Just as Kamiko had left the room, there was a knock on the door. "Who could that be this early in the morning?" mused the young mother as she wandered in the direction of the threshold.

Upon the door opening, the opening revealed a few rough looking ruffians. One had a goofy hairdo and was slightly visually impaired. The other wore a knit cap and had tear like tattoos under his eyes. Both had drawn katanas."Get the woman. Boss says with held hostage, the old man's gonna be a lot more cooperative."

Inari had been standing at the bottom of the stairs when he had seen his mother being forcefully dragged from her home. The one with the eyepatch asked, "What about the kid?"

"Dispose of him. Boss said nothing about needing him so go nuts," sneered the thug keeping Tsunami captive. "Too many orphans in the world. Do us all a favor and turn em into chum for the boss' sharks."

"I don't think so," growled Kamiko, coming out of the bathroom, having changed into her loose bodysuit. "You two don't know who ya messing with. This family is under the protection of Konoha ninja. Let the kid an the lovely lady go or I'll do more than just break your faces."

Clearly they didn't like the way the redhead was talking to thug charged toward at the vixen while the other, held Tsunami by superior strength. It wasn't difficult to disarm and dispose of the criminals into the ocean. She picked the young housewife up bridal style and carried Tsunami inside and laid her on the sofa while Inari tagged along at her side. She cast a weak genjutsu, just enough so the distraught mother could rest for a bit.

Bending down to get on the young boy's level, the fox eared kunoichi said, "Listen to me, Inari-kun. Wipe your tears away and stand tall. I want you to gather all of the townsfolk and tell them this: stay away from the bridge and any of Gato's thugs. Something horrible is going to go down and I don't want any of you to get mixed up in it. Can you do that for me?"

"Y-yes. Yes I can!" Immediately, the small dark haired boy waddled out the door and headed down the way to the neighbor.

Knowing Kamiko, she made a big deal about being late to the bridge and ran in the direction of the project. She could only hope she could save her team before something horrible would go down.

 _ **-Megami no Kitsune-**_

When the vixen arrived, she discovered that Zabuza was currently locked in a fight with her own sensei. Kakashi was actually using his own katana to hold off the massive Kubikiribocho. Kamiko herself knew how strong the rogue Kiri nin was. Slightly impressed, the kunoichi continued to look over the battlefield from her viewpoint.

A little bit further away, Sakura was fervently working with a first-aid kit to patch up the injured workers caught up in the mess. Most of the wounds were superficial, but it seemed the pinkette was determined to be of some use.

Sasuke however, was a little worse for wear. He was surrounded by several mirrors hovering in the air like a small dome. His body was sagging and riddled with senbon needles. Blood dripped from his wounds, becoming a tapestry of splatters on the stone ground. The Uchiha was panting laboriously, Sharingan blazing as he tried to keep up with who Kamiko was pretty sure was Yuuki.

"What's takin' ya so long Zabuza?! Shouldn't be that hard to kill a few Leaf brats and their babysitter," called a voice that was heard before the person was visible through the fox. Soon enough, she had appeared. A woman walking without a care down the unfinished end of the bridge.

She had long, dull red hair that was a shade closer to rust than Kamiko's own, soft green eyes, and together with a Kiri forehead protector, she also wore a simple cloth around her head, distinctively tied at both sides so as the ends of the material protruded upwards, while the remainder of her hair is allowed to flow downwards. This woman wore a loose, pin-striped long-sleeved shirt with a dark obi around the waist, black pants which got much looser near the hem, resembling hakama, and striped leg-warmers in one. She is wielding a pair of swords, each with slim and straight double-edged blades. Both blades also have an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of one side of the blade and another one near the base of the blade's other side. At their bases are smooth brown hilts with a round grey hilt. The sneer on her face revealed her shark like teeth.

The new comer made to dash to her sensei with a diagonal slash, but Kamiko intercepted with her own blade. A second sword slammed into her nodachi, causing her to skid back a bit. She shoved off of the weapon and leaped back at the dual wielder with a low to high slash. Of course she was blocked and the redhead was forced to somersault backward in order to avoid a swift decapitating strike.

Before Kamiko could launch a counter attack, her foe was flying towards her with lightning charged blades. Cursing under her breath the redhead left one hand on her nodachi while the other formed a hand sign. An identical clone appeared in a puff of smoke. The original cried, " _ **Suiton: Teppodama!"**_

Though two of the three water bullets had missed, one had struck it's mark. She resumed her two handed grip on her blade. Her clone however whipped through several seals before whispering, " _ **Raiton: Kanashibari!"**_

Such an ingenious combination move resulted in her enemy being temporarily paralysis. In turn, the mild electrocution had made the swordswoman's attack to falter and land on her feet, if a bit ungracefully. Of course once that had worn off, a blade pierced the clone's heart, forcing it to dispel.

"D-damn, to think a genin is that strong. Who th' hell are you?" She paused as she finally got a good look at her opponent. "Wait... T-that red hair...t-those whisker marks... You're the daughter of the Bloody Crimson Reaper?!" Slowly, Kamiko nodded, her furry fox ear giving an irritated auburn haired swordswoman, immediately bowed, "My apologies, princess. I did not know you were among the bodyguards protecting the bridge builder. I am ashamed I did not see before. I hope any wounds I inflicted are superficial. Please, forgive my insolence."

Sakura yelled, "Princess? What the heck is she talking about! That idiot isn't royalty. She-she's an orphan! A damn nobody!"

Though he didn't voice it, Sasuke was also skeptical of the stranger's claim. It was one thing to know their third teammate was the new Kyuubi, but to also call Kamiko a princess was a bit far fetched.

Ameyuri rose from her bow and sneered, "Be careful who you address so callously, brat. That is the last living Princess of Uzushiogakure! She is nobility of the highest caliber. Were you not her teammate, I would cut your tongue out!"

Turning to Zabuza, the female dual wielder intoned, "Nothing personal, Eyebrows, but I'm gonna back out of the deal. I swore an oath to the royal family of Uzushiogakure that I would protect the princess and queen for as long as I still draw breath. So either you back off, or I'll hafta kill you."

Zabuza looked torn between what to do. Finally he said, "Ugh, I'll give you and your bratty princess ten minutes to talk shit out. After that, you're free game. Should you defend these brats and the old guy, I'll slice you up."

She turned back to the teen, plunging her unique longswords into the ground and knelt before "Kamiko Shina Uzumaki, I hereby pledge my life to guard yours. From henceforth, I shall not leave you vulnerable to attack so long as I live. Wherein you cannot handle alone, I will always be there to keep you going. My blades and my body will be your shield against the foes we may face."

"You do not care that I am the Kyuubi's reincarnation?" the redhead queried, resting a hand on the auburn haired woman's shoulder. "These ears and my tail are the gifts of the previous Kyuubi. I am her heir. You care not and remain indifferent that I, Kamiko Uzumaki, am truly a demon?"

Lofting a hand to Kamiko's cheek, the swordswoman smiled, "You've grown into a beautiful young woman. And to be frank, I think your ears and tail are positively lovely. So no, I do not care you are the Kyuubi no Yoko. You remain the jewel of Uzushiogakure and my oath still remains intact. Well, so long as I don't die."

Kamiko's lips curved into a warm smile as she replied, "Thank you, Ameyuri. I was worried you would reject me for what I am."

In the not so far distance, a slow clap echoed in the fog still lingering around the unfinished bridge. "Tch, and here I thought you two ninja were capable. Yet when I come here and find that not only the old man is still alive, but neither of you or the crossdressing boy can't even manage to take out one of those brats!" The scowl on his face turned to a malicious grin. "Well, it doesn't matter to me. I wasn't going to pay you or the shark faced bitch anyways. It costs a lot of money to hire rogue ninja to get a simple job done. But you two couldn't even do that. At least you and your tool tired them out, making it easier for my mercenaries to finish off all of you. They're cheaper and expendable. So say your prayers because you'll be sleeping with the fishes at the bottom of the sea!"

"Traitor!" hissed Kamiko as she glared viciously at the small man.

Zabuza scowled. He should have known that the rat faced bastard would betray them. Grunting, the spiky haired swordsman said, "Hey fox girl, Apple. Lend me a hand here. I don't have beef if your Leaf shinobi if I ain't getting paid. I want to paint this bridge red with their blood. Especially that garbage eating sack of shit!"

"Don't fucking call me that," hollered Ameyuri as she drew her swords and began running towards the 'trash' filled bridge end. "C'mon Princess, show Mochi-chan here how a woman carves a turkey!"

With a feral grin, Kamiko took her nodachi in a reverse grip and leaped recklessly into the crowd of jeering thugs and mercenaries. She was slashing and dashing like she was possessed by the spirit of a warmongering titan. Blood was already splattering her bodysuit with every new kill.

Not to be outdone by genin and a young girl at that, Zabuza snorted. He muttered about ungrateful and idiotic brats as he heaved his butcher sword over his shoulder. He too ran into the mob of hired swords.

On the sidelines, Sakura, Sasuke, Tazuna and Kakashi were watching with wide eyes at the unfairly fought bloodbath. Yuuki was resting peacefully against the Uchiha. The pinkette was looking away, her cheeks a little green. The bridge builder was grumbling at all the work it would take to wash the bridge.

By noon, the last of the thugs had been dealt with. As promised, the unfinished structure was painted in the blood of those foolish to try their luck against the The bridge would need a good scrub later.

Leaning against her newly discovered bodyguard, the foxy kunoichi managed, "Oof, I burnt up a lot of calories. Carry me back to Tazuna's place?"

"Only because you're the princess, Miko-hime," said Ameyuri as she rolled her eyes, scooping the exhausted vixen into her arms. To the rest of Team Seven and her fellow former mist colleagues. "Oi, we're going back to the old man's place. Move your ass or eat our dust!"

* * *

Tonight, it was a full moon.

The door to the bridge builder's modest home suddenly opened. In walked a familiar redhead and her bodyguard. Her sleek scarlet hair was elegantly styled and pinned up with a dark blue jeweled kanzashi, swaying gently as she walked with graceful steps. In Kamiko's hand was an ornate kiseru, tobacco still smoldering.

"Where have you been?!" commanded Kakashi, leaping to his feet from the dinner table. His swift movement knocked over a glass of water which spilled onto Tsunami's lap. Said woman swore a little and shot the silver haired a miffed look.

Opening her eyes to reveal violet and crimson flecked irises with slitted pupils, Kamiko said, "My apologies, Hatake. I did not tell you I would be gone for a few days. I truly did not mean to make you worry. I merely had some business to take care of."

Narrowing his one normal eye, Kakashi said, "You were gone for three days. Where on Earth were you?"

Waving off her sensei as though he wasn't even on her level, Kamiko replied, "Oh, around, not that you'd really care. I left a kage bunshin to keep an eye on you but you didn't even try to search for me. What a naughty mentor, to not even care about his missing student~"

"I so-"

Interrupting, Sasuke growled, "Bullshit! You looked for like fifteen minutes when Sakura and I told you that we couldn't find her even after we checked the areas we all knew about before. Your lazy ass thought it would be more convenient to say that she died on the job."

With a verbal sound of displeasure, Ameyuri shot the silver haired shinobi a dirty look. Kamiko looked a tad miffed but slightly amused, "You know, just because I kicked your ass in the genin exam, you really shouldn't hold a grudge against me. It's not like I burnt any of your smut...yet."

Tazuna coughed, changing the subject before things could get out of hand. "So brats, I finally decided on a name to give the bridge when she's done."

Interested, the fox eared girl exhaled the ring of smoke that drifted into Kakashi's face who wheezed a little. Then asked, "Oh, do tell what our hard work has earned it."

Proudly grinning, the aging architect said, "You'll love this, girl. Sukārettobikusen no Kurouzu-dan (Maelstrom of the Red Vixen). She isn't done yet. Just two more sections of the bridge. Once that's done, we can open the bridge. Now that it's easy to just walk into the country, merchants and traders will bring new commerce."

"What will you do with all the money and resources recovered from Gato's hideout?" Sakura asked.

Scratching his chin, Tazuna replied, "You know, I'm not one hundred percent sure. Most likely we'll redistribute the wealth among all the villagers here. Enough so we're all well off for awhile. Once we're back on our feet, we'll use the excess to invest in improvements to the village for materials we don't have. We might even use some of that to fix up the shops around here."

"Mnyew," yawned Kamiko as she splayed herself somehow so gracefully across the couch. Her legs and tail drooped over the other end of the sofa, showing just how much she had grown thanks to her little metamorphosis.

With a chuckle, Ameyuri said, "Looks like the princess is ready for bed. Look at how tuckered out she is. I'll take her upstairs. Have a good night all."

* * *

The morning after next found the young vixen up way before dawn and milling about the main house after having a walk around the streets before anyone was really awake. When she had returned, the fox girl found that the matriarch had finally woken up and found herself some energizing ginseng tea.

"Ah, good morning Tsunami. No need to worry; merely had gone for a walk. It's funny to see you up later than normal. Perhaps-"

Kakashi walked into the dining room, backpack hanging from his shoulder. The one in his hand was tossed to her which was caught deftly. "Sakura packed your belongings since you weren't here for me to tell you earlier."

"What? Are we leaving already?"

"We've tarried here for far too long. The Hokage seems rather upset and is eager to have us back in Konoha after this mission disaster," yawned Kakashi. "There will be more missions for us to undertake once we have our mandatory days off."

"Since you protected my father from Gato and helped him finish the bridge, I made something for you. For your troubles, I'd like you to have this kimono to replace that horrid casual clothes you were using before," said Tsunami as she pushed a folded garment into the vixen's hands. "As thanks for freeing our village, please accept this token of my gratitude."

When Kamiko unfurled the traditional clothing, she discovered it was mostly blackish blue with feminine floral accents. The obi was a slightly darker pink, bordering on red without clashing with her hair.

Ruffling Inari's hair, Kamiko smiled, "Thank you, both of you for making me feel welcomed here at your home. Maybe one day, I'll come back to share a meal with you all." The young boy gave Kamiko one more hug before letting the Leaf shinobi (plus Ameyuri) leave for home.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Once again, I'm here with yet another update. Sorry it's taken so long. I'm either brimming with all sorts of new ideas or my brain is absolutely burnt out. But when I'm burgeoning with inspiration, it's not always for one single story. So that means I'm often working on four to five different stories at a time, making each chapter release for each story a bit of a wait. So Sorry for that. Anyways, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter VI**_

"Ahem...," coughed a voice.

Looking up from the stack of paperwork he was attempting to get through, Hiruzen sighed. How was he supposed to finish this if everyone freely walked into his office just to bother him? He exhaled again and asked, "What can I help you with?"

Straightening her back as much as possible, the purple haired woman requested, "I'll try to keep this brief, Hokage-sama. I'd like to take genin Uzumaki Kamiko under my wing as my apprentice."

"What for? She is already a student under Kakashi Hatake. While I admit that he's not super fond of her, I'm sure he can teach her just fine," the Professor stated. "Plus that would generate more paperwork for me to fill out and I really don't want more than I've already got on my plate. As you can see, I'm already swamped with things to do."

Confident, Anko answered, "Because she's got a skill only I can teach her. Do you think that perverted old man can help Miko train her Seduction skills? No offense, but he's got the tact of a sack of potatoes. He reads smut in broad daylight!"

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Hiruzen asked, "Where is this coming from? I was unaware she was even interested in such a dangerous specialization. Besides, it would not be safe to put our jinchuuriki behind enemy lines. One's trump card should be a leader's last resort. It's a basic rule of war; keep your most valuable assets hidden until they're needed. I'm sure your former...sensei drilled that lesson into at the very least."

It was a low blow to mention the man who had abandoned her; Orochimaru, a man who had been her mentor, sensei, and a father figure. It made her grimace. But this was more important, so she shoved her discomfort down.

Contorting her frown into a smirk, Anko replied, "She's got a good head start already. Trust me, she's got the latent talent for it. Man, I wasn't even expecting it and wham! Apparently she's been living in a brothel since she was four. I had to actually request clearance for research into her and even then, her file is pretty barebones as is. Miko is really something when it comes to gather information subtly. She nearly got me to tell her my second biggest secret. That was before I caught on and found out she's a thirteen year old girl instead of a buxom twenty year old. If it wasn't for Nai-chan dragging me out of there, I bet I would have fallen victim to her charms. With a little work around the edges and finesse, I think she would become an excellent agent to carry out seduction, assassination and intel gathering objectives. I beg of you, please allow me to train her!"

Silence reigned around the office for a few minutes as the Hokage pondered a deliberate conundrum. On one hand, it would put their weapon behind enemy lines, but on another, it would keep that old war hawk out of his hair for awhile.

"Kamiko and Team 7 are due back any day now. I may as well send word to the other Kage saying we're delaying the Chunin exams until September." He paused and said, "You do realize this is a once in a lifetime chance that I'm gambling on? I'm putting my trust in you, Tokubetsu Jounin. Do not let me down, understood?"

All nonchalance was out the window and seriousness took its place. With a rigid bow and a firm salute, Anko said, "Understood, Hokage-sama."

* * *

The following day that the Snake Mistress of Konoha had approached the Sandaime with her proposal, Team 7 had indeed returned from their C turned A-Rank days had passed since they had first left the Leaf Village to escort the bridge builder. Three days were spent traveling to the Land of Waves. A week spent in waiting for Kakashi to recuperate. And finally another three days to arrive back in the Hidden Leaf. In all, their mission had nearly taken an entire month to complete.

The three genin and their jounin sensei had been escorted straight to the Hokage from the gate, not deviating from the main streets. Several jonin and chunin had been waiting for them upon arrival. All for the village's safety of course.

It was not lost upon any of the shinobi walking the row the looks of disgust or contempt thrown in Kamiko's direction. Any attempt to use low level jutsu to disguise or hide them had been met with failure. So she had no choice but to let them be seen by the villagers. So the hateful looks followed Team Seven and their guard as well as unkind words not dissimilar to 'monster' thrown to her.

Upon entering the familiar dome-like building, Team Seven noticed the Third was sitting next to a few chuunin who were assisting clients fill out various forms to hire ninja. This is how it had been since the trio of genin had graduated. Now, they were reporting back from a mission far more difficult than the client had let on. A mistake that had grossly endangered them. Yet, they were all very much alive and only the gods to thank for it.

"Would anyone like to inform me why your mission took ten extra days? And one of the seven swordsman in tow? And your ears...explain." It wasn't a question.

Kakashi took the lead, "Like my brief report I sent upon reaching the Land of Waves, we ran into complications because the client withheld important information that ninja were after him. The first attack was a pair of rogue chunin from the Mist; the Demon Brothers with their relentless attack. Sasuke and Kamiko were able to stop them before the client was endangered. Then the day after we left, we were attacked again. This time it was the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Zabuza. I was prepared to fight him myself, but Kamiko insisted on fighting him one on one. She was confident. But I was forced to step in when she was on the verge of death, Thankfully my two other students were able to stabilize her before she lost her life."

"Your ears? How did this happen?"

"Like Kakashi said, I was bleeding out fast and I was an arrogant bitch to think I could take on an A-rank shinobi on my own. So the Kyuubi merged herself with me so we wouldn't die." She paused, those vulpine ears twitching a little bit. "The last three days, I sort of forgot to tell 'Kashi-sensei that Ameyuri took me to the ruins of Uzu no Kuni..." There was no brevity in her voice, showing her rare serious side.

With a low voice, the Hokage asked, his querying becoming insistent, "And pray tell me, what did you find in the ruins of your ancestor's homeland?"

There was an audible gulp from the redhead's throat. "Tragedy. The bones of my ancestors. And hope."

The hokage raised a silvery brow, "What do you mean?"

"I realized that I don't have time to waste here. I need to leave the village. I have been given a task that I must carry out; I cannot complete my mission stuck here. I met someone there who might be able to help me. Don't get me wrong old man, I might have been dealt with a shitty hand at birth and for everything I've suffered since, but I love this village." She paused, her ear flicking, denoting minutia nervousness. "But my priority is this task bestowed upon me."

"Can you tell me?"

Contemplating, Kamiko bit on a claw-like nail. After a few moment's consideration, she answered, "I can, but only if we are alone with those we can trust. Especially without the tree's tainted roots." She waited, listening as the Hokage's guards filtered out Danzo's agents so she and her team was alone with the Hokage. A privacy jutsu was performed so she could regale them with what she had seen.

 _ **[Flashback]**_

Ripples echoed across the gently swaying sea, renewing with each step from a kunoichi duo. Their movements were not rushed, keeping their noise to a minimum. From Nami no Kuni, a diagonal path through the water would only be a few kilometers. And for trainee shinobi, that distance was paltry. Even now, their brisk pace had brought them in sight of landfall.

Most of the way, they had both been fairly reticent. But now as they walked, Kamiko suddenly asked, "Ameyuri, how did you know my name when you pledged your eternal service to me? I don't doubt your ability to gather information, but even the Hokage didn't know I still lived after falling off the radar of his most elite shinobi."

"Aha, that's a good question to ask," the swordswoman shot back. "Luckily for you, I have an answer for that. So ya see, I had a deadly genetic disease when I was younger. It would act up every now and then, gradually becoming more frequent and harder to shake off. Well the last one I had, I was fighting your mom at the time. Like about...uh fuck. My memory's shit. Let's just say about however old you are and add five or something. Anyways, my illness struck me and left me unable to defend myself. Instead of killing me, 'Shina makes me give her an oath that I and any kids of mine would serve the royal Uzumaki line so long as we live. Delirious at the time, I agreed because I knew I didn't have much more than a few years." She shook her head, pushing for a minute to help her charge onto an elevated dock."I don't know what that redhead did, but she and some fat tittied blonde cured me of my disease. I was free! Exchanging my life for servitude is worth it to me. Especially if I get to fight off assassins. So even though she went back to the Hidden Leaf, we continued correspondence through written word. We would exchange letters about once a month. And the last few I ever got from her was about the imminent birth of her child who she would name Kamiko if it was a girl and Naruto if a boy. So yeah, that's how I knew."

"I did not expect to see anyone else out here," spoke a calm, but guarded voice, preventing the young kunoichi from replying to her bodyguard. "The water vortexes are usually enough to keep uninvited guests away."

Both Kamiko and Ameyuri had drawn their blades the moment the first syllable had reached their ears. They turned around to see a woman standing on the other side of the ruined catwalk. The actual adult between the two stepped forward in order to protect her charge. "You are not welcome here, outsider. This is the sacred land of the Whirlpool Royal Family. State your purpose or business. I shall decide whether you may walk away with your life or perish here in a watery grave."

Rolling her eyes, the fox eared teen said, "Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you, Ameyuri?"

"Don't undermine my ability to provide protection in front of a possible assailant," hissed said swordswoman. "Intimidation is an excellent tool."

A soft giggle came from an unknown woman. As the woman came closer, they finally got a better look at who they were dealing with. A tall, slender woman with fair skin. Her eyes are the shade between an emerald and poison green, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin. She is seen wearing a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It seems to be closed at the front with a zipper, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wears a mesh armour that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress. She also wears a skirt in the same colour as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she wears a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals, shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue nail polish on her fingers and toes, and her plump lips are painted with a matte purple lipstick.

Finally, she spoke again, "I am Mei Terumi, a member of a small offshoot of the Uzumaki Clan. My reason for being here; I was hoping to find survivors of the Uzushio massacre. Just extremely fortunate I happened to meet the last princess of the Uzumaki clan."

Sword still not sheathed, Ameyuri barked, "And just what would you want of us? To enslave us? Steal our secrets or exterminate us?"

Holding up a hand, the auburn haired woman said, "I mean no ill will towards either of you. In fact, I would actually like to extend a hand in friendship. As for how I knew who you are, well it's not that hard. Anyone will some degree of intelligence knows that only the Uzumaki Royal family had that shade of red hair. Although I suppose being influenced by the Kyuubi added a bit of oomph to the vividness. But I guess I don't really know your names."

The Nidaime Kyuubi had been quiet up until this point when she finally spoke, her voice soft, silky but guarded. "Miss Terumi, was it?" At the woman's nod, the vixen continued, "I do not trust you in the least. You so happened to show up here exactly when I do. Not so much of a coincidence. I am under the impression that you orchestrated certain events I am not privy to in order for us to meet face to face. Am I close in my assumption if not correct?"

Shock had appeared on Mei's attractive features for the duration of ten seconds before relaxes into her calm resting face. "My my, you're quite perceptive for a teenager. I am in fact, the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure. It has been mere months since the civil war has ended in my favor and the Bloodline Purists...ousted." If Kamiko or Ameyuri were surprised by this revelation, their faces did not give away such emotion. "The reason I seek survivors of Uzushio is because they are a strong, proud people. Even though their population has been decimated and scattered, I wish to reunite them under one banner."

Shaking her head, Kamiko replied, "I cannot do that, Mei-san. It sounds like an excellent endeavor, but right now I have more pressing concerns than seeking out forgotten relatives. As you've already guessed, I am a bijou...sort of. Jinchuuriki, no. But I realize I am way below the level I should be at. I need to find the other Jinchuuriki and train to become stronger. And no doubt you wish to have them join Kirigakure. I am already allied with Konohagakure however tentative it is. But even now, I need to venture out in order to become stronger, attune myself to my affinities. I will see if I cannot coerce or even blackmail the old man into letting me out of the village for awhile. Training somewhere secret should help."

"Disappointing to hear you desire to remain with the Leaf even though they did not lift a hand to help Uzu in its time of need even though they were supposedly allies," the auburn said distastefully. "But what's done is done. Though I may be unable to suade you to joining my village, I would like to become steadfast allies with you. After all, when the Uzumaki make a return as a clan, they'll need their queen. As a token of good faith, I'll let you in on a secret known only to the elites of the five great nations. The location of the jinchuuriki. In the sands of the wind country, is the Ichibi and his container, Gaara. The Nibi lives in the Land of Lightning under the Raikage; the host's identity is unknown to us. The Eight Tails is the younger brother of Kumo's leadership. The Sanbi is currently reforming, previously inhabiting a reef off the bay from the Land of Waves. The Yonbi, that jinchuuriki is currently missing, but their last known location was somewhere in the Land of Fangs. The five tails, is within a man named Han, but it may prove to be unreachable right now. He resides in Iwa. They are not friendly with the Leaf, not since the last few Great Wars. Rokubi is sealed within Utakata, who is a citizen of Kirigakure, but he is rather elusive these days. Nanabi resides somewhere within the borders of Takigakure. And finally you, the Ninetails is right here in front of me. "

Kamiko frowned, "How accurate is this information?"

With a shrug, the Mizukage replied, "Fairly accurate to my knowledge. It was intel gathered by the late Yagura-the previous leader of the Hidden Mist. I do not know his reasons for compiling this information but it is useful to have regardless. "

It was the swordswoman who spoke up. "Do you know if there's anything worth salvaging in these ruins? Texts, baubles, clothing or anything?"

Mei replied, "Yes, there is. A vault of the original copies of the village's most important works, texts and rules should be hidden beneath the rubble. It's just a matter of finding the secret entrance. But knowing how obsessed the Uzumaki were with seals, I'd bet my status as a single woman that there's likely a blood seal. One that would require you to offer a sacrifice of your own vitae to unlock it. As for other things, I saw a few of the houses were relatively intact. The Village may be abandoned, but I would not search around without remaining alert. Just because the Uzumaki clan is near extinction and scattered, I would not think their homes and businesses are undefended. There are likely traps, defensive and offensive seals hidden around here."

Bowing politely, Kamiko said, "Thank you. I am not fully aware of what your motives really are and I will keep a level of suspicion on the activities of the Mist, but for pointing us in the right decision, thank you."

Snickering, Ameyuri said, "Well well, looks like the princess has manners after all. And here I thought you were going to be a foulmouthed brat this entire trip."

The vixen mouthed to her bodyguard, ' _Up yours!'_

"Before I take my leave, I'd like to give you something," said the Mizukage, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she approached, stopping mere inches from the princess of Uzu. She was taller by a foot, so she had to bend down before pressing a chaste kiss upon Kamiko's lips.

Said redhead spluttered, her face turning scarlet, unable to comprehend what happened.

Mei just chuckled, "Hopefully, I'll see you again soon. Farewell, friends." She then turned heel and walked a few steps before shunshinning away, leaving the two redheads alone in the misty ruins.

"SON OF A WHORE!" yelled the blushing teen. Looks like they had a lot of work to do.

 _ **[Present]**_

"Did you really have to add that last bit in there?"

She scoffed, "Of course I did. My reports are always unabridged and unedited. So yes, it was necessary. But you do understand, yes?"

Sarutobi frowned, humming. "It seems I have no choice to allow you to go ahead with your mission. However, I am not going to allow you to leave the country unsupervised. That would just be plain foolish. While you may take your...bodyguard with you, I will send one of my own jounin to keep an eye on you as well as take over your training. I will also have an anbu squad escort your party to the border. From there, you will always need to keep one eye to the sky and an ear to the ground, figuratively speaking. For reasons you can easily come to quick conclusions, you must keep your ears and tail hidden whether it's by obscuring them with clothing or genjutsu. Without that base covered, I cannot allow you to leave that village. You are still a genin and I am not willing to take any further chances than I already am. I'd suggest you seek out someone who specializes in genjutsu or sealing. Lastly, I would request you return to Konoha by September 1st. The chunin exams will be held here in Konoha this year. No doubt Kakashi was already thinking of nominating your team for entry."

Frowning, she asked, "Do you think we're ready to become chunin?" It appeared that Sakura had taken the question as an insult and was about to protest when Sasuke elbows her in the ribs.

"Kakashi seems to think so, but that's all up to your performance in the exams. If you do admirably enough to impress the judges, a promotion may be in your future. If it is not meant to be, then just work harder to improve for the next one. Is there anything else?"

"I would ask a favor of you, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Well, two actually," came Kamiko's rare, formal tone. This quickly got the Hokage's attention. He motioned for the redhead to continue with speaking her request. She gave a small nod and said, "I know this is unprecedented, but I would like to take Ameyuri Ringo, Zabuza Momochi and Yuki Momochi as vassals of the Uzumaki clan. They helped me realize that being a ninja isn't for looking cool or being badass. It's about protecting your loved ones, your village and everything you treasure. That there is no such thing as fighting dirty; every fight should be treated as if your life is in peril. And the second request is to allow me to wear this in addition to my Konoha headband." She produced a worn forehead protector with a reddish ribbon. But the symbol was a swirl that represents Uzushiogakure.

Discarding his hat upon his desk, the Hokage fished out some documents as well a few forms. Already filling one out, he said, "For the latter, I don't see why not. The Village Hidden by Whirlpools was once a stalwart ally. Your family means a lot to you and I find it is reasonably acceptable. Though many might ask what it means, especially those in your generation who did not grow up knowing about Uzushio." He paused and sighed, looking at the former Kiri swordsman and then to the Oinin. "Doable. Just realize that whatever they get up to, they're your responsibility for their actions. Not everyone will understand that they're no longer nuke-nin and that they are your servants. I have the forms to register them as citizens of Konoha. Albeit on probation. I'll have an eye kept on them. Now, I believe you should meet your new teacher tomorrow. Mitarashi, Anko."

"Who's Anko? The name seems kinda familiar?" chirped Kamiko curiously as she absently began scrawling her signature and surname in the appropriate fields on the papers.

"A cunning, sadistic bitch," said Kakashi darkly, a shudder racing down his spine.

 _Whack!_

A powerful strike to the back of the head. The Third was tiring of having to discipline his former student's pupil. "You are supposed to be an example of what it means to be an outstanding shinobi. Not teaching them to be late, cuss or read porn." Taking the papers back, the old man groaned, "Still, housing them will be your problem to deal with. As they are on a modified probation of citizenship, they won't be able to apply to the military for one year. Oh yes, and your new sensei will be expecting you seven AM tomorrow morning at Training Ground 26."

"Oooh, am I getting trained by an anbu lady? I wonder how many times I can prank them!" cackled Kamiko as she rubbed her hands together. As she, her team and guests were dismissed, the fox eared girl continued giggling madly.

"By the gods...she's like an exact replica of Kushina when she first joined the village. The only difference now, is that she has blood red hair and even more beautiful. If she can fool people into believing she's normal...she might as well become a force to be reckoned," remarked a mortified Kakashi.

"May the gods have mercy on the ignorant..." sighed Hiruzen, signing a cross over his heart..

* * *

"Why are we going shopping now?" whined Kamiko as she tried to pry the iron grip off of her forearm. " I just got out of a meeting with the Hokage for fuck's sake. I haven't even had time to drop my stuff off at my apartment! Plus I need to show Zabuza, Ame and Yuki to my apartment. I'm pretty sure they don't want to go shopping with us, right Eyebrowless? Not that I'm consenting to be dragged anywhere."

The ex-Kiri swordsman gave a grunt. "Don't care. Do whatever you want."

"Shopping?" Yuki chirped excitedly. "I haven't bought anything in ages! I don't mind tagging along."

With a shrug, the only female swordswoman replied, "You're the princess. I go where you do. Even if you can be a right brat sometimes."

"Oh come on!" pouted Kamiko as she pleaded. "Can we do this in like a week? I don't have time to shop for clothes!"

Stepping into a lingerie and 'more' boutique, Sakura answered, "Hush, Sasuke-kun and I were there too, listening to you and Kakashi drone on and on! We didn't get to talk and we kept quiet. But there's a more pressing concern right now! Because it's unladylike to go about without undergarments. You've grown in the chest area and much more than I care to admit. And I'll be dead before I'm caught with your tits jiggling all over the place!"

"I'm not wearing a bra," she replied defiantly.

Sakura reprimanded her harshly, "Like hell you aren't! It's very important to have support for your breasts. Do you want those melons to be bouncing and jiggling all over when you're running and fighting?! They'll get in the way and cause you pain."

Paling, Kamiko mewled in resignation, "Okay okay, I get your point, 'ttebane! I'll get a damn bra or two if it makes you feel better. But I refuse to wear anything too frilly!"

The smartest girl in their year whirled around like a storm, trying to find all sorts of bras in various styles. From sports bras to strapless and even front clasp. When the pinkette had a small mountain, she ushered the vixen into the dressing room.

Moments later, Sakura groaned as she tossed another failed attempt to contain Kamiko's bust. ' _What the hell is with her breasts?! They're too damn big! Seriously, D at her age?! '_

One of the uniformed women behind the counter waltzed up two the duo after Kamiko redressed and asked politely, "Are you young ladies finding everything okay? Do you two need some assistance?"

While Kamiko just scowled, Sakura replied, "Actually, yes. My friend here has enormous boobs! I can't find anything fashionable or functional to fit her!"

"What kind of support do you need dearie?"

Answering in her teammate's stead, the civilian born kunoichi said, " We're ninja, so primarily she'll need heavy duty support to prevent those melons from jiggling around in combat or heavy exercise. Maybe a few proper bras for date nights."

"D-don't call them melons!" cried Kamiko as she self consciously lifted her forearm to cover her chest. "I-it's not like I wanted big tits!"

While Kamiko and Sakura bickered, the employee went into the back before returning moments later. The first few attempts had been futile, the fox eared kunoichi's breasts refused to be contained like some sort of mammary calamity. Most of the ones they had tried to put on her had insufficient band length or had torn from the vixen's sheer cleavage buoyancy. After a few minutes of struggling, the two other women managed to squeeze Kamiko's breasts into a brassiere.

"Ooh, aren't you positively adorable!" cooed the lingerie sales associate as she took numerous photos of the vixen in a pair of royal purple panties woven from silk with black and gold embroidery. The bra was the same palette, but inverted and the cups were a semi-sheer lace.

"Sakura?"

"Yes Kamiko?"

"I would start running if I were you because I'm about to murder you..." answered the vixen darkly as she held up a clawed hand covered with raw demonic chakra.

Terrified, the pinkette made a run for it.

In the end, Kamiko ended up buying a few pairs of the last set she had tried on; the purple, black and gold. She had also decided on a few everyday t-shirt bras, sports-bras and a few racy lingerie combinations. Since her breasts weren't very big, the bodyguard merely bought fresh sarashi wrappings. Yuuki found a few she liked for her modest bust, primarily blue, teal and ice colored ones with matching panties. Figures a wielder of Ice Release would choose those colors.

They had later met back up after the fox girl calmed down from her homicidal rampage. More or less. Next, they bought casual clothes and a few dresses as well as kimonos for formal events. The day ended with the five of them going out to the Akimichi BBQ restaurant. Afterwards, Kamiko took the three she had picked up in Wave and got them settled in with what little they had. A temporary set up until they could get a bigger place.

* * *

April thirty first was an arid morning. A letter had arrived sometime before the sun had even risen, telling Kamiko to arrive at the subterranean training ground (36) with nothing but the most basic of tools.

Zabuza had assured her that they would be able to find something to occupy themselves until she returned. He also said that she better work her ass off or he would take over her training himself. The young given bad gulped at that, having seen his 'warm ups'. The man was a relentless monster when it came to training.

So here she was. Sitting in a dojo situated underground, Kamiko picked at the bandages around her chest; they felt weird and not very conservative. Out of the corner of her eye, the fox eared girl watched a clone of hers throwing senbon needles at ballistics target (a gel like substance that mimics the property flesh). The anbu who were training there already had reasoned these were better for Kamiko because they're smaller than shuriken and kunai and can be thrown with greater accuracy and precision.

"Stop that! I know you aren't used to wearing a wrap, but contain yourself." chastised the purple haired woman who had just walked in from the women's locker room. She had caught the young vixen red handed picking at the wrap.

"But sensei, it feels weird! It's like I'm almost topless! Can't I at least put stuff on over this?"

Taking a seat next to me, Anko said, "The sarashi bandages are better for combat than a bra. The latter severely restricts maximum arm movement. Being able to have movement can make the slightest difference between life and death. Would you risk your team's life if you can't make it in time because of upper body restrictions?"

Groaning, Kamiko conceded, "I guess you have a point there, sensei. You're Anko Mitarashi I surmise?"

"Yeah I am! I'm the Sexy and single Anko Mitarashi, Tokubetsu Jonin of Konohagakure!" The purple haired woman grinned,giving an enthusiastic victory sign with her fingers. "So foxy, you're my student huh?"

The redheaded Uzumaki fidgeted with a lock of hair as she sighed, "Looks like it, crazy snake lady. Before we do anything, I want to know...do you know the truth about me?"

Grinning madly, Anko replied, "I sure do, Queeny. Or should I address you as Your Majesty?"

"You...don't hate me, do you?" Kamiko's tone was nervous as she tried to make eye contact with the kunoichi's hazel orbs.

"Pfft, I'd be a hypocrite if I said yes to your question. Look Kamiko, I'm an outcast of the village too. Because I was taught by the traitor Orochimaru," she said, spitting the name out as if it left a sour taste in her mouth, "people believe I'll betray the village like he did. Just by association they glare at me and think I'll turn out the same way he did. But I love my home and those lies couldn't be further from the truth. Now kid, tell me a little about yourself."

With a pout, Kamiko said as she batted her eyelashes while she held her fluffy tail to her chest, "You go first so I know how it's done."

Anko cursed under her breath and said, "Fuck, it should be illegal to be that adorable. Okay, ya got me. Name's Anko Mitarashi. I like eating dango at the tea shop on the edge of town, drinking sake and feeding my snakes. I dislike boring folks, backstabbing bitches and traitors. My dream is to be free of my Ten no Juin. "

"Mm, it's my turn now. I happen to be the second incarnation of the Kyuubi no Yoko, but I prefer going by Kamiko Shina Uzumaki," she said, a little more eager than a girl like her should. "I think takoyaki, inarizushi and aburage are the delicacies of the gods. I enjoy playing pranks, reading and training." A frown soiled my expression. "I hate men, perverts, scum who leave their comrades. My goal...I don't know anymore."

Anko huffed, "You're definitely your mother's daughter. Your pops liked ramen and your mom hates it. I was just a kid at the time, but I'll never forget a woman like that. While you have your dad's sheer potential, but everything else looks like your mother."

Sticking her tongue out at her sensei, Kamiko chirped, "Well I am a kitsune after all. It's in my nature to be cunning, sexy and deceiving."

"I like how you think~" laughed the Snake Mistress."I think we're gonna get along pretty damn well." She settled her grin and then began pulling out a few pieces of old yellowed paper squares. She explained, "To begin your training, the best way to determine what techniques will suit you best is to use this. It might appear to be a boring old litter you'd find on the ground, but there's more to it than meets the eye. When it comes into contact with a ninja's energy, it can do one of five things. If it splits down the middle, you've got a wind nature. When it smokes or catches on fire, obviously fire nature. If it gets a little moist or really wet, water. Turning to dirt and crumbling away means you have an earth nature. And lastly, it'll wrinkle if you've got an affinity for lightning. Got it?"

"Couldn't we have done this on the road and gotten started traveling already?" the fox eared kunoichi asked impatiently.

Giving a snort, the Snake Mistress replied, "And here I thought you were smart." She got a glare at that statement but summarily ignored it and said, "Well, it would have been kind of stupid for us to bring random technique scrolls without even knowing what you're best attuned to. Plus, there's some other training I want to get out of the way before we leave Konoha."

Nodding with reluctant understanding, the teen took the square in her palm. Closing her eyes, Kamiko focused the chakra in the paper as per instructed. It wasn't hard to find that spark that allowed her to use chakra. Combining both spiritual and physical energy with this internal flame is what allowed shinobi to perform jutsu and feats of strength a civilian could never hope to achieve. When her eyes opened again, she discovered it split in half, one side burning like a candle with a purple flame while the other half turned into sopping wet mess.

With a sharp whistle, Anko said in an impressed tone, "Dang girl, you've got three elemental affinities. Wind, Fire and Water. Not sure what the purple flames means, but it probably is something good. Never would have guessed from a delicate youngling like you." She began laughing her ass off at her dumb little joke.

With the biggest glare, the vixen growled, "Fuck you."

"Don't say things you can't cash in on, hot stuff. For being a little snot, I want you to spend the next hour reviewing all the techniques in your chakra natures. Primary wind with a close fire and a slightly weaker water affinity. Since Kakashi didn't teach you fuck all, I'll help review your basics. Anyways, there's a lot to choose from, so pick carefully." A tad upset, she grumbled and sent a few clones to head to the library to study the scrolls available to genin.

Anko gave a snort. "Cheater. Only you could so recklessly made ten shadow clones for something as mundane as reading."

Sticking her tongue out, the fox eared teen replied, "All's fair in love and war. Why squander something so useful with hardly any drawbacks?"

Cracking her knuckles, Kamiko's new sensei replied, "Is that so, gaki? Well then let me repay the favor." The purple haired woman gave a short whistle. In seconds three ninja had shunshinned to her side. "These three will assist in training you today. Introduce yourselves to queeny here."

The nearest one was a man of average height. He had light brown hair and a strong set of features. He was idly chewing on the end of a senbon needle. To those interested, he could even be described as handsome. "Nice ta meetcha. I'm Genma Shiranui. Get ready kid, I'm gonna train you into the ground!"

"Uzuki, Yugao," said the violet haired woman. "Of course you already know me since we live together. Although, I haven't really seen much of you lately. That last mission took way too long for my comfort. The least you could do is send a letter home." At this, Kamiko rolled eyes at the violette's overbearing sisterliness.

Finally, the last of the three spoke up. His voice was low and gravelly, often punctuated with an involuntary cough. He had a ninjato strapped to his back, marking him as a specialist with a sword. "And I'm Gekko Hayate."

"The resident lovebirds here," Anko said as she thumbed back at the violet haired swordswoman and the swordsman who were not so subtly holding hands, "Will be drilling you how to properly use a sword. I dunno what you taught yourself, but these two here are two of the best when it comes to kenjutsu. Genma will quickly drill you on basic ninjutsu before moving onto some heavier stuff. As for me? I'll run your pretty little ass into the ground. Ill shape up any flaws I see in your taijutsu. But that's just the start."

Audibly gulping, Kamiko considered making a run for it.

* * *

From a little before dawn until dusk, the four jounin and Tokubetsu jounin had trained the crimson haired genin, pulling out no stops.

The first hour she had been in the arena, Kamiko was forced to participate in taijutsu training with her mentor. Anko had not gone easy, picking apart the flaws in her self-made made hand to hand combat style. Then she was taught the standard Konoha style. The reasoning being that if she knows one style that someone else is using against her, it'll be easier to avoid and parry strikes. It was sound logic.

The following hours after that had her attention split between a few subjects thanks to shadow clones. With Genma, she had been taught the Great Breakthrough jutsu and the Mud Wall technique. While she was still a novice at them, she knew the hand-seals and practiced them a few times each.

Hayate and Yugao had fun training (read: torturing) Kamiko on the proper ways to care for a sword as well as different kata. Then they sparred using bokken so she wouldn't get hurt or hurt her instructors. They'd drilled the correct stances, footwork and flexibility into her noggin so when she trained on her own, she wouldn't be in danger of incorrectly training. All in all, using mass shadow clones to train was one option Kamiko could abuse without severe backlash. Of course she was forced to give an oath that she'd dispel them in groups of five to prevent a massive headache. She did learn that just because she was literally the Kyuubi reincarnated did not equal immortality. This training has definitely taught her she was still relatively low on the food chain.

So here she was now, involuntarily brought to a bar so her teachers could celebrate their hardworking student. Or so they claimed much to Kamiko's chagrin.

Within half an hour of drinking, the bar became a clamor of merry drunks and brooding sods. It didn't take much for Yugao to get tipsy. The first round of shots was paid for by Hayate as courtesy. When she tried the heavy liquor for the first time, Kamiko gasped and coughed at the sharp taste and afterburn.

The two men laughed at her which got a glass of beer splashed into Genma's face by the fox eared kunoichi. He shot a sour look at her and dried himself off with a low power technique. The resulting wind made many of the women in skirts and dresses flutter in the strong wind. Of course this got more drinks thrown in his face. He was forced to go outside and dry off. Again.

Sake was poured for the second round of drinks which was a medium Kamiko was more acquainted with. She downed ochoko after ochoko of the nectar of the gods. And she was barely phased by the alcohol. Anko was surely drunk by now and Genma wasn't far behind.

By midnight, the two jounin were drunk off their ass and very red faced from their intoxication. Kamiko however, was still going strong. The foxy ninja was draining a keg of red bean fermented beer which she had taken a liking to.

It was now half past one in the morning and the bar had closed for the night. Hayate had taken his girlfriend home just after ten, leaving Anko, Kamiko and Genma to continue their drinking games. But now the Nidaime Kyuubi was feeling how intoxicated she really was.

"Yer so shitfaced that I don't think ya can get home by yaself," slurred a drunk Anko. "Ya can crash on my couch." Kamiko didn't seem to have heard what her sensei said. In fact, she had passed out.

With a sigh, the snake mistress grabbed her pupil by the back of her shirt, leaving in a shunshin after paying the immense tab the two had racked up in the course of a few hours

* * *

When she woke up, Kamiko had a splitting headache. "Ooh my head," she moaned sluggishly, a hand rubbing her temple. "This is a hangover? Ugh, never getting that drunk again."

Looking around once the pounding in her cranium had lessened to a bearable level, she realized this wasn't the apartment she shared with Yugao. The place was a one room studio with an attached bathroom. And it was incredibly messy. Thongs, socks and clothing in general was strewn around the furniture and even the floor. It was clear that this one loft belonged to her temporary sensei, Anko Mitarashi.

Still fairly groggy, the fox eared girl reclined atop the sofa, careful to not wake the passed out purple haired kunoichi. Even though she had been practically blackout drunk, she could still remember bits and pieces of a dream she'd had while unconscious. For some odd reason, the words cat, two and path stood out to her. But the rest was a jumbled mess in her waking mind.

A low groan alerted her to the Snake Mistress regaining consciousness. "Welcome to the land of the living, sensei~" she teased.

Pillows, as in more than one collided with Kamiko's face, clearly telling her that Anko still had a hangover. Finally there were words from the otherwise unmoving woman, "You outdrank four jounin. It took two kegs and eight beers to get you drunk. Then four more shots and a tumbler of whiskey to get you shitfaced. Your constitution is ridiculous!"

⦕Megami no Kitsune⦖

It took three cups of coffee and a cold shower to wake up. Her mentor however, had to be coaxed out of bed with the offer of treating her to dango, breakfast made for her and carried to the was as good as new the moment she had some food in her. The headache she'd had disappeared rather quickly, something that Anko had been jealous of.

So now making good on her offer, Kamiko and Anko were at a teahouse that the latter often frequented. A waitress had taken their order, shaking her head at the sheer quantity of dango the Snake Mistress had ordered.

The student and sensei had been making idle chit chat when they were joined by a new person. To Kamiko, she seemed slightly familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. So to investigate, she made her move, the fun way.

"Ooh who's the gorgeous red eyed lady?" asked the vixen in a sultry tone, her slitted violet eyes trained on the woman who had just sat down in their booth.

The raven haired woman suppressed a blush as the Nidaime Kyuubi hungrily studied the woman's features with a piercing gaze. Her target was a fair-skinned woman of slender build. Long black untamed hair reaching her upper back, and very unique eyes that are red in colour, with an additional limbal ring in them. Her cosmetics consisting of red lipstick and purple eyeshadow. Adorning her flattering curves was an outfit that consists of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Overall, this is a very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wears the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals.

"Down girl," chuckled Anko as she patted Kamiko's head. "This is Kurenai Yuhi, Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha and often called the Ice Queen since no man's ever been able to steal her heart. She's also my best friend. I would have introduced her to you yesterday but she wasn't able to be here since she's busy with three genin brats of her own, being a jounin sensei. Nai-chan, this cutie here is Kamiko Uzumaki. Hehe, the old man lemme train her."

With a frown, the Genjutsu specialist scolded, "I told you to cut it out with that nickname." Turning back to the vixen, Kurenai bowed politely, "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Uzumaki-san."

Smiling in a friendly manner, Kamiko responded with, "Likewise. Anko didn't really mention what sort of person you were. So if it isn't too much to ask, what do you specialize in as a kunoichi?"

"Figures," said the red-eyed beauty, shooting a glare to the woman scarfing down dango at an unsightly rate. "A proper introduction is in order. I am a jounin here in the Village Hidden in the Leaves and my name is Kurenai Yuhi. I am currently one of the top ranked genjutsu users on active duty. My favorite phrase is 'Kinka Ichijutsu no Ei'. How about you?"

Genjutsu? This what exactly what she glint in her eyes was all but invisible.

As her vulpine ear twitched, the Nidaime Kyuubi replied, "Kamiko Shina Uzumaki, genin kunoichi at your service. You probably already know what I am, so you don't need me to explain." She gave an awkward laugh and finished, "I'd like to say I'm an all around kunoichi in terms of skill, but I guess Anko-sensei has sorta been grooming me for assassination work. She even taught me **Sen'ei Jashu**. It's pretty difficult to do since I'm not an official summoner of the Snake Clans. And the snakes don't always like to listen. So if I have to use it, it'll be as a last resort."

The Genjutsu Mistress raised a brow at her friend questioningly. She spoke no words, but her nonverbal inquiry conveyed clear concern.

Offended, Anko replied, "Whaaaat? It's not like I'm going to have any brats of my own someday thanks you **that** man. Have to hand down my techniques to foxy here if I want to have a legacy."

Patting the raven haired woman's hand, Kamiko said, "Nothing to worry about, red-eyed lady. I know Anko gets a bad rep because of Orochimaru. It's only because of that man that snakes are considered evil around here.

"One of these days, I will get the snake summoning scroll away from that bastard and have Kamiko-chan here sign it," vowed the violet haired jounin.

Kamiko said to the red eyed woman, "Moving on, I have something to ask you."

Said woman tilted her head, "What is it? You can ask me anything although I can't guarantee that I'll answer."

"So the old man told me I need to hide my ears and tail before he'll let me out of the village again. Think you can help, Kurenai?"

Smiling gently, the beautiful raven haired kunoichi replied, "I'd be delighted to give you assistance in your endeavor." The three women finished their tea paid for their share of the bill and went off to a suitable spot to train.

* * *

After her genjutsu training with Kurenai, Kamiko decided to let the uncommon impulses get the better of herself. Something that was out of character for a thirteen year old; a demon fox,, not so much. Before leaving the Hokage Tower, she double checked her genjutsu to make sure her tail was still hidden by the demonic illusion she had just recently been taught.

Near the outskirts of the trade district were some less than reputable places. But when she had been a little child, she would often hide in the alleys around here and keep hidden from the drunken mobsters every birthday of hers. The 'Fox Hunts' took place yearly in attempts to purge the Hidden Leaf of the 'demon fox reincarnation'. With this knowledge, Kamiko knew her destination was fairly close. Just had to find the exact building.

As soon as she strode through a door that rang a tinkling bell, someone at the front desk smiled and asked, "Is there something we can help you, Lady Anbu?" It was a middle aged woman with highlighted ash blonde hair who was looking quite well for her years. She'd had her upper lip pierced in the center with a little jewel as well as a lip ring and a few studs in her ears. She was smiling as she suckled on a lollipop. In a quite lewd manner too.

Taking off the fox mask (She had stolen it on the last 'Festival') , Kamiko gazed at the price chart for a moment. "They all look so good. But I can't go overboard. Today, I think I'll go for a shoulder to breast and partial back Yakuza style tattoo, an industrial piercing in each ear, double helix piercings, nipples, a tongue piercing and," She paused for a moment before finishing in a whisper, "A-a clitoris piercing." The last one left her pink cheeked. While she had a bad temper, anything sexual usually flustered her.

"Saucy," said the cashier with a giggle. "All of those are really sexy choices. You have pretty good taste for someone without any body mods. You'll be back for more and you'll really turn into an inked goddess." She laughed at her witty joke and added, "Oh yeah, Anri will see you after she sets up. Have a seat on the couch while you wait."

Nodding, Kamiko sprawled her lean body onto a basic sofa and waited for the butch woman to call the vixen over to her unorganized workstation. She canceled the illusion, giving a relieved sigh when she didn't get yelled at by the lady at the front desk. At most, she got an eyebrow raised at her and a shrug.

"First, ya wanna choose your jewelry," said a woman wearing a face mask as she dragged the redhead to a display case that glittered with all sorts of finely crafted jewelry. "I recommend something that compliments your hair and eyes. So, what's it gonna be?"

It took the reincarnated tailed beast a couple minutes to choose what she wanted to put on her body. In the end, she went with silver for the industrial barbells, gold for the nipples, rose-gold for the tongue ring and adamantine for her nether.

"Hold still or I might mess up," grumbled the masculine woman whom was covered in tattoos of various styles. "Deep breath in...and out." Her heart raced, but the first was over before she knew it. From there, it had been a piece of cake. All of them took under three minutes each to complete the process. It was simple; just push a needle through flesh and quickly replace it with jewelry. Two impalements for the metal bars and one for the rest of the piercings.

The tattoo of a cherry blossom tree with a fox sleeping beneath it took three and a half hours to make a stencil, ink the outline and another half hour to finish the shading. Twice, Kamiko nearly fell asleep during the process. At first, it had been an inconveniencing pin prick before it gave way to a boring numbness. Since it was by the hour, Anri seemed to have extra time and added a Yatagarasu on the right breast at the vixen's behest. It was a tribute to the memory of the Itachi Naruto had known. Each inked pieces on Kamiko's body were to help her to never forget the people whom had such a great impact on her life.

"Jeez, didn't you feel any pain at all?" Asked the woman whom had finished up and was throwing the third set of disposable gloves and the mask into a trashcan. "You didn't even flinch once!"

"No, not really. I've experienced far worse pain. Anyone who -really- knows me can attest to that," she spoke darkly. In reality, it was sad in a civilian point of view. But as a kunoichi, pain and suffering became so common in everyday life, especially for a woman like the former pariah of Konoha. Nobody seemed to recognize her as the one frail little girl who roamed the streets. Just a sadistic bitch in her place. And Kamiko was fine with that.

Grinning, she commented, "Ah, yer a brave girl for someone so young. I heard a lot of people wash out of the program and some go insane. Go up front and she'll ring ya up. And good luck, foxy."

As Kamiko began to walk away, she felt a hand connect smartly to her butt. The instant it made contact, a rosy hue began to creep onto her normally pallid face. Of course she would slap her pert kunoichi ass for good fortune. ' _Or I could be wrong. Perhaps she thought I was cute?'  
_  
Once everything was in order, Kamiko was sent back to the front desk to pay for the services rendered. As she pulled out her coin purse, she asked, "How much?"

Expecting an outrageous price considering who I was and how the general populace felt about her, I dreaded what the front desk woman would say. Holding her hand out with an apparent genuine smile, "Your total today will be only 1300 ryo."

"That's all?"

She nodded, saying, "Yes, it is. Original total before the discount was 20000 ryo. You must be new or else the academy would have told you. Anbu and lower ranks get a discount here on account of close relations between us. Mostly because they rely on us to work on their insignias. Many shinobi ask us to apply permanent ink seals on their bodies for convenience. So ninja always get a really good deal on our services."

' _They gave me a discount because of myself rank...or assumed rank. They didn't seem to care who I was or what other folk's preconceptions were. All they care about, was that I was a strong woman who protected them and their loved ones'._ Kamiko brushed a stray tear away and paid her the amount due without saying a word. Quietly, she walked back to Yugao's apartment in a very good mood. Someday, she knew she'd be back there for more.

* * *

Kamiko was the first person home that night. She imagined that either the hokage had given Yugao a mission out of the village today or that she had been busy. For reasons the fox girl didn't want to know.

Since there wasn't a note on the kitchen table telling her to not expect her home that night, Kamiko had made supper. Yugao had arrived home as the fox eared girl was setting places and portioning plates. They greeted each other briefly and went back to what they were doing.

Her sensei, Anko, had decided to join them for dinner unannounced. Thankfully, Kamiko didn't need to make another pot so there would be enough for two plus herself. Her sensei apparently did this often and Yugao had more or less grown used to it.

Kamiko quickly ate and rinsed her plate at the sink before slinking off.

Shrugging off her top, the vixen called from the room that led into the bathroom, "I'm gonna take the first shower tonight. Either of you can go once I'm done. One of you or both of you can do the dishes since I made dinner. I-"

"WHAT IS THAT?!"

The Snake Mistress grabbed Kamiko by the forearm and whisked her back into the living room, where Yugao was polishing and sharpening her katana. She stated, "I'd like to know that too, Kamiko."

Wincing at the loud shout, the vixen huffed, "N-not so loud Anko-chan. You know my ears are sensitive. And to be specific, it's body art. Did you really have to pull me in front of Yu-chan while I'm topless?" She was of course referring to the tattoo of a plum blossom tree with a fox sleeping beneath it splayed down her back. The vulpine's tail curled around her left hip and caressed her inner thigh. Then there was the three legged crow as well. All of her ink was done in an elegantly done sumi-e style.

"Mhm...mmm...not bad..." The violet haired kunoichi continued to make various noises of skepticism before finally saying, "I approve!"

"Okay, that was...weird. But before I shower, I have a question. Do you know when we can leave the village to go do my...mission?"

"In a couple days. We have a few more things to do here in the village. Starting tomorrow, I'll start off with one part of our training. Now get your ass in the tub. You stink!"

Grumbling about ungrateful teachers, Kamiko dawdled over to the bathroom so she could wash the day's grime away.

* * *

The Yūgata no Hana was Konoha's most renown brothel. There was a month long wait to book an appointment with any of the women working there and your average merchant could not easily afford their company even for just a single night.

"Welcome, ladies," the sultry voice of a woman in her thirties greeted the much younger girl. Mitsune, the Mistress as a plaque on the desk read, was a stunningly beautiful woman with a refined looking visage, long raven hair that reached all the way to her feet and a cleavage worthy of the fabled Tsunade of the Sannin. She was seated at her desk, leaning in her chair in a position of watchful ease, toying with the cup of sake in her hand.

She was a woman who knew how to deal and take pleasure in equal measure, from men and women alike. She had controlled the establishment for well over ten years now, lying with influential people who kept the world at their fingertips, treasuring their whisper of pleasure as well as the secret shared in confidence. This was also the same woman who had willingly taken the young vixen off of the streets several years ago.

"Ah, darling Kamiko~ What can I do for you today? Did you want to play for our customers today? Or did you want something else?"

Anko answered instead, "We actually need a room. A fully equipped one. I think you know what I'm gonna start this doll with."

Mitsune smiled at Kamiko, "Anything for you sweetie. Free of charge~"

Anko just gaped at her student who simply looked back at her sensei sheepishly. They were handed a key which was meant for the suite 308. Incidentally, it was one of the nicer rooms available for rent.

"So what's this about. I mean, I've lived here for most of my life so I've got no issue being here. But yanno, it's just kind of out of the blue," said Kamiko, curiosity in her voice.

A devilish smirk grew on the purple haired woman as she wrapped an arm around her student's shoulder. "I think it's time for a little surprise training. From I heard, a lot of your studies were cut. Including all kunoichi skills which is very sad. I doubt the academy would have fared you any better. They don't know what they're doing. So, I've decided it's high time you learn Injutsu- the ninja art of Seduction. From me, you'll learn a special set of skills only women are able to accomplish. It's very rare for males to take up lessons like this which leaves it to us. Time to time, you'll have to flaunt your curves and cleavage to distract people depending on the nature of the mission. Some missions require us to sleep with our targets in order to gain information or perform assassinations."

"W-why do I need to learn about this stuff?" Kamiko stuttered, cheeks burning like a rosy bonfire. She couldn't recall ever being this embarrassed in her life before. She was used to pulling pranks, being sadistic and sometimes downright cruel. Kamiko was completely out of her element and it made her fairly nervous.

Still smiling evilly, Anko replied, "Oh you silly girl. Besides, you already have a good head start. Now, a woman's most powerful tool is her body. Our job for example, can be used to extract otherwise tight lipped information from our targets or even get close to them. Of course before we begin your remedial lessons, there is a small matter of discovering your sexuality-"

Frowning, the vixen queried with an interrupting snort, "Why is it important to know that?"

"So we know which set of skills to teach you. It won't do you any good if taught to seduce men when your preference is for women. And the opposite is the same for someone who is heterosexual. Sure a little accidental cleavage can turn men to mush, but women who like other women are cut from a different stone. Far more difficult to seduce. I have a lot to teach you and there are only so many hours in a day. Now, how about we find out what sorta girl you are, mmm?"

Before Kamiko could protest to these bizarre teaching methods, Anko slowly began to undress herself. Teasingly, her trench coat slid to the floor. Soon, her tight leather pants and top quickly followed suit. This left her sensei wearing a very risqué lingerie combination. Her bra was a front clasp wire-free featuring fishnet lace; black, tan and purple which seemed to be her everyday color combination. On her hips, was a tiny lace garment identified as a thong the color of the summer midnight sky,

Seconds until she was done strip teasing (don't judge me, I've read Icha Icha paradise. I stole it from Kakashi once!), Kamiko was practically gibbering and blushing like no tomorrow. _'I can't be a lesbian, could I? I don't like men, b-but that was circumstantial. But fuck, Anko sensei looks so...hot...'_

"Oh my oh my, it looks like the lovely little vixen is gay. Don't worry my sapphic student. Your sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of. Why, I'm a lesbian too if you're curious. How else was I able to turn you into a blushing idiot like that?" questioned the slender teacher with the biggest shit eating grin on her face.

Anko had seen the girl's apprehension to what she called her before Kamiko could have said anything. She wasn't alone with her feelings. Anko had practically anticipated what sort of girl the vixen was and Kamiko was stunned both by the revelation.

"Wassa matter, darling?" Her voice dripped with an intoxicating honey Kamiko simply couldn't get enough of. It was as if seeing the Snake Mistress naked was enough to arouse the poor fox girl. "Panties wet already?"

"S-shut up!" Kamiko whined, clenching her thighs together. Truth be told, her little tease had stirred up arousal and she leaked a little bit of her nectar.

 **"Ninja-art: Thirty Coiling Snakes!"**

Involuntarily, Kamiko squealed as a shit ton of snakes appeared from nowhere and began curling around her limbs and then in a strange pattern across the kunoichi's torso. Even so far to keep her tails from thrashing around. When Kamiko tried breaking free, the 'ropes' tightened and squeezed. She doesn't know why, but each time she squirmed or tried moving around, it made her moan.

Spluttering, Kamiko cried, "What the hell did you do?"

"This my dear, is Shibari. A style of erotic bondage designed to artfully immobilize someone for maximum pleasure," snickered the now naked woman in front of me. Kamiko glowered down at Anko who was grinning madly. But her scowl didn't last long, especially since she teased off the casual clothes she had put on after she had showered.

At first, Kamiko's sensei had garbled a lot about different ways of massaging a woman while demonstrating on her student's own body. From caressing a lady's natural curves with just the tips of your fingers to kneading her ass with the knuckles. Gentle pulses of chakra during a sensual massage would give a soothing and arousing effect. Kunoichi with extremely delicate and precise control could use their chakra to temporarily close a tenketsu without the victim realizing. Then she had started explaining the different techniques when performing oral on a woman and proceeded to give a warning that one method won't work as well on some women as it may on others. That it's important to alternate between the nether lips, clit and vagina.

Panting from the teasing, the fox eared ninja groaned. How she made her cum twice just by touch and tongue alone was a mystery to Kamiko. In her peripheral vision, she saw the Snake Mistress sneaking behind her back. ' _What's she up to?_ '

Her eyes widened the moment she felt strong, supple fingers spreading her ass. Kamiko was about to ask what she was planning on doing back there until she got the gist of what was going on. Shivering, the fox girl felt Anko's lips pressing little kisses to Kamiko's back door. Before she could loudly protest, a clone of her teacher shoved a ball gag in her student's mouth and tied it behind her head before poofing.

Groaning, the odd sensation of her tongue to the young kunoichi's anus was oddly arousing. The dragging, kissing and tonguing actually felt...good. Kamiko almost pouted when she could no longer feel Anko's hot breath between her cheeks until the older woman spat on her finger and rubbed the puckered star. To supplement lubrication, she swiped a finger at the vixen's lower lips and smeared the slightly viscous liquid to Kamiko's rear. The odd sensation of this alone was enough to explicit a husky moan. But she wasn't going to stop there. She didn't know what shape it was, but the dildo poking her rump seemed to have a slanted, tapered tip that gradually gets bigger as it was pushed into Kamiko's booty. Because of the obstruction in her mouth, the redhead could barely gasp as it fully impaled her. But it was only beginning, having realized that once she started thrusting it in and out of her student's arse. Instinctively, Kamiko clenched her sphincter around the toy, but it did little to stop her lover from her 'lesson'. After a few minutes of the two step rinse and repeat method, she slammed it in as far as it possibly could.

Kamiko shrieked in ecstasy as she reached the peak of her third orgasm, dripping feminine juices down that toned leg and adding to the small puddle of sexual juices on the floor. She seemed to think her pupil had enough and disabled the jutsu keeping her bound and suspended from the ceiling. Kamiko ripped off the gag with a sigh of relief. It had been intense for just two hours.

"Okay, five minute break. Get some water and a snack. Then we'll resume the lessons. I ain't as insane as Guy in terms of going to the extreme. Well, not with people I actually like. So, I'm gonna wash my face and wait for you here," said her teacher as lazily as possible. Has she been hanging out with Shikamaru?

Rubbing her sore ass, Kamiko hobbled dramatically out of the bedroom to get some water. As the clear, cool liquid flowed down her throat, an evil idea came to me. She had the perfect outfit and the most mischievous technique to seduce her sensei!

Cracking her knuckles, Kamiko snarled as she advanced toward her sensei, "My turn, Anko-chan. I'm definitely going to make sure you walk bowlegged for week!"

"Oh yeah? I dare you to try, pip-"

No reason to let her keep talking, so the Nidaime Kyuubi made her move. **"Ninja Art: Binding Tails of Lust!"**

Once those six words left her lips, ethereal tails composed purely of violet-crimson chakra wrapped around Anko's arms and legs. The jutsu lifted her just high enough off the ground so Kamiko wouldn't have to get on her knees to work on the older woman.

With my sensei gagged and immobilized, Kamiko decided to pay her back thrice what she had done to her. It was about time someone took her down a peg or two. Striding towards the bound woman, she untied the obi that kept her kimono in place. Underneath it, Kamiko wasn't wearing anything. Five minutes had been enough to change and rehydrate.

Not wasting time, the vixen pulled her orchid haired woman's legs a tad further apart. With the warm up finished, it was time to give her a thrashing. Slipping the entirety of her tongue into Anko's cunny, Kamiko began using it to feel around. As her wet muscle twisted and curled inside, Kamiko could hear little moans and lovely sounds emanating from her lover. As she explored the Snake Mistress' feminine tunnel, she suddenly quivered around her. Taking it as she had found her most sensitive spot, Kamiko ground the piercing cruelly against Anko's walls. Just a little revenge for her earlier stunt.

Anko spasmed, back arching as much as she possibly could in her inescapable bindings. The vixen knew what was going to happen considering she'd done the same thing to her twice. But Kamiko wouldn't simply let her ride out the bliss that came with orgasm. No, she shoved her mouth hard against Anko's womanhood and greedily lapped up her sweet feminine nectar. As her body twisted and squirmed, Kamiko noticed her toes curling. Her sharp vixen ears picked up barely audible moans and squeaks from her sensei's lips which spurred her onwards.

Even through the orgasm, Kamiko wasn't going to let her rest. Not after what she did to her.

"Kage-Bunshin," she purred hazily as lust began to cloud my mind. With the sealless jutsu activated, there were fifteen solid clones surrounding her victim uh lover.

Sitting back on the bed, Kamiko ordered softly so Anko couldn't hear, "Okay ladies, it's time to really give it to her. I wasn't going to be so mean before, but now she deserves it. I want three of you on her breasts and really tease her. One of you will sit on her face and force her to eat you out. Also, I want one of you to fetch the beads in her top drawer of her nightstand. The rest of you can rub her body in a lewd manner."

All fifteen of the identical clones saluted the original Kamiko and got to work. Said kunoichi began to rub her sensei's flower while simultaneously tweaking her own nipples. Her eyes were slitted crimson as she saw in the mirror across the room and it turned her on even more, hungrily eyeing the tied up Anko.

Fourteen. That was how many times Kamiko had caused the snake mistress to reach the zenith of pleasure. She wasn't normally one to be organized or keep track of things, but she could make an exception for once. Now that She'd had her fun, Kamiko dispelled fourteen very sweaty clones. She almost staggered from the amount of pleasure each of them had felt and it forced a phantom orgasm on her body. It caused her to stagger and moan. But she brushed it off and strode up to the bound jounin.

Lifting her chin up, Kamiko slowly pushed a kiss to her lips. Almost in a slut like manner, Anko moaned into the open mouthed lip-lock. Tentatively, the younger woman slithered her wet muscle between her lips. At the sudden oral invasion to her mouth, her tongue grappled Kamiko's own. It seemed she wasn't going to submit so easily. At the challenge, Kamiko tipped Anko's chin down for better access and forced her lips to part as the Nidaime Kyuubi dominated her. When she showed initiative, Anko's tongue backed down. Pleased with herself, Kamiko suckled on her lover's tongue before breaking away, a thin trail of saliva bridging between the two lewd kunoichi.

Both of them were panting breathily from the intense make-out. After kissing her, Kamiko began peppering little smooches and playful nips down the side of Anko's neck. As she neared the base the left side, Kamiko instinctively bit down on the skin on her neck. Anko screamed out in a mix of pleasure and pain. She enjoyed it, evident of the feminine juices running down her leg.

"You okay?" the redhead asked as she gazed into hazel eyes tenderly. With a sadistic grin, Kamiko asked, "Round three?"

"Oh Kami! You still have enough energy to go on?!" cried her lover in utter astonishment and a hint of fear. "You're insatiable! Please, I need to rest, Kamiko-chan!"

Relinquishing the jutsu, Kamiko caught the quivering woman as she fell. With a sadistic grin on her face, the fox eared woman taunted, "Can't keep up with me, can you, my little snake princess? You'll just have to make it up to me the rest of the time we're traveling the Elemental Nations."

Panting heavily, my sensei asked, "What kind of Injutsu technique was that? That was fucking ridiculous how you made me cum fifteen times! I don't think that's physically possible in a single session. Let alone in a single night."

"To be honest, I came up with it on the spot. It was a sort of touch and go thing at the start and it came to me naturally," The redhead answered modestly. "Besides, you were cruel when you sprung this sudden training on me and I decided to pay back double what you did to me, Anko-chan~"

Defeated, her lover said, "Damn, you're more dominant than I thought, you evil little minx. Like a predator of seduction. I had pegged you as a submissive when we first started training together. Although, maybe I should have factored in your Uzumaki blood. That's some quick and ingenious thinking right there. If only you could control your chakra with the same finesse you did here tonight, you could probably the strongest kunoichi. Plus, I'd hate to see what you would have done to me if I hadn't begged you to let me down. N-not to mention you're really good in bed. So, I'll ask Yugao if she's okay with me dating you. Even if she says no, I'm still gonna be yours. In fact, I might even let you collar me."

"Bloody incorrigible. You really do specialize in antagonizing people, Anko."

"Teehee. You'll be just like me in a few short years hun. Maybe your reputation will surpass Ibiki's the longer you play with us."

Her words of the past five minutes left Kamiko with a blush warm enough to scald the vixen's cheeks. The fact that she wanted to be more than teacher and student had astounded the younger kunoichi. Butterflies fluttered in her chest, swelling in affection.

* * *

Dawn signaled the arrival of the day she was to finally leave the village for several months and Kamiko was ecstatic. Anko was the jonin in charge for the unofficial mission, but Zabuza, Yuki and Yugao and Ameyuri were also tagging along. Kurenai and a few other jonin were there to see them off.

The Hokage himself stood at the gate where the party would be departing from. He wore his Hokage robes, but not the hat. He was the first to speak. "I assume you are all appropriately equipped for survival in the wilds?"

Rolling her eyes, she countered with a question of her own, "Do we look like a bunch of retards, old man?"

He rolled his eyes. Sarutobi was really regretting not taking better care of her when she was younger. He might have been able to avoid her gaining such a foul personality. "Remember and this is to all of you leaving for this unofficial mission. I need you all back her before the chunin exams begin. That means September 1st or earlier." To Kamiko, he handed a sealed scroll to her and said, "Should you cross paths with Konoha's spymaster, Jiraiya of the Sannin, I would have you deliver this missive to him. You must not let that scroll fall into the wrong hands. Understood, Kamiko?"

"I do, sir. But I have a request."

"Hm?

"Well, you see... Yugao and I realised that our apartment is kind of small. Would it be possible to have a fifteen or twenty bedroom place built while we're away? It's really cramped at our current place. Nothing fancy mind you, just enough for everyone to be comfortable."

Lifting a brow, Hiruzen asked, "Do I want to ask why you're asking for more than five bedrooms? Are we going to have a repeat of what happened in Nami no Kuni?"

Shaking her head, Kamiko replied, "I hope not. I wasn't exactly trying to recruit people when I went for that first C-Rank. But no, I wanted to get a house big enough for Team 7 and Team 8 to share."

Even more curious, the Hokage prodded, "And why exactly do you want this? What do you hope to gain from trying to get Kakashi, you, Sakura and Sasuke to live together under one roof?"

Grinning mischievously, Kamiko replied, "Well, first of all, it'll help that lazy scarecrow to start coming on time. Second, I believe it will help us come together closer, ttebane! What better way to do that than to share a living space, pay the utilities and stuff. Wouldn't that be the perfect way

"How do I know you're not doing this so you can prank people and pin the evidence on one of your roommates?"

"Later old man!" Kamiko yelled as she dashed out of the village gates.

* * *

 _ **-OMAKE-**_

Kakashi Hatake stood before the Burning Shadow of the village Konohagakure.

"What can I do for you?"

"I want to remove Genin Uzumaki from my team."

Frowning, Sarutobi asked, "Why? I know she has some...quirks, but that's no reason to request her to transfer to another team. What is the reasoning behind this?"

Breaking down, the silver haired jonin gritted his teeth and managed to growl, "She reminds me of everything that I've lost. Every, fucking thing. She has the same name and practically the same looks as her mother. Hell, she almost killed me the other day during the genin exam! She's worse than her mother. I swear she's out for my blood!"

"Hokage-sama!" yelled a certain snake mistress, interrupting the meeting between a leader and his soldier.

"Hmm, Anko..."

Standing attention, the purple haired kunoichi perked up and replied, "Yes sir?"

"You've always wanted a genin team of your own right?" At the woman's vigorous nod, the Hokage finished, "I'll grant you one genin to train. But this comes with a condition. They must become a jonin in three years by any means. Of course, radical methods will need my seal of approval."

"Really? Challenge accepted!"

"Yes. This will be a trial run to test how well you train your student and the efficiency you use." He coughed and rubbed his forehead. "You'll find your new student in the ANBU housing district. One Kamiko Uzumaki and Yugao Uzuki. They live in an apartment...uhhh...4C."

"I have a question."

The old man smiled. "Ask away."

"Are you insane in the membrane?!" snapped Kakashi once the sadistic torturer had left. "Why would you put those two together? Do you want them to terrorize the countryside and half the continent?"

Scratching his goatee, the Sandaime answered, "Logically speaking, it makes sense to pair one unstable kunoichi with another. This way, Kamiko can get the sort of instructor that best understands her. Well that and they'll probably balance each other out. That, or they'll tear each other apart."

Kakashi's only response was a facepalm.

* * *

 **A/N: I couldn't resist. The omake was something I had written before, but changed what I originally wrote for the chapter.**

 **Here's the translation for the phrase Kurenai said in her introduction to Kamiko: "Glory like a violet blooming a single day"**


End file.
